It has often been remarked that, unlike credit card obligations, automobile loans and other private contractual duties across a wide spectrum, amounts that students owe under loans taken out to finance their educations can be liquidated only rarely and under very limited circumstances.
That is indeed true, but, as has also been noted by many commentators and debt counselors, a former student seeking to come to terms with an insuperable amount of debt (many ex-students owe upwards of $100,000 for their undergraduate degrees) can markedly improve his or her situation in many instances by working with an experienced bankruptcy attorney. Among other things, the debt relief that might be possible through extinguishing other types of debt can better enable an ex-student to remain timely and current with student debt obligations.
William Bennett, a former government official and educator who currently serves as a CNN columnist, notes just how widespread and problematic student debt has become for many individuals and households across the country, including in Florida. Recent research from the Pew Research Center, a respected think tank, indicates that fully 20 percent of American households have accrued some level of student debt. The average amount of debt last year was more than $23,000.
That obligation is more than enough to flatten many new graduates seeing work in a struggling economy.
The causes of excessive educational debt are many and often interlinked. They include some students simply not keeping their eye on the ball. They owe in large part to consistently rising college costs. And they can be traced, too, to lenient government loan policies and lack of scrutiny concerning the marketability of degrees that certain students are seeking.
The result, Bennett says, is “valuable human capital withering before it can even set its roots.”
A proven bankruptcy attorney well practiced in debt relief counseling and representation can offer advice and provide strong advocacy concerning any debt-related problem, including educational loan repayments that have become untenable and onerous.
Source: CNN, “The looming crisis of student loan debt,” William J. Bennett, Dec. 6, 2012
