Presidential contended Bernie Sanders has made free tuition for higher education a major part of his platform which has helped lead to his tremendous popularity among younger voters. The support is driven, in no small part, by the fact that student loans are now a major fact of life for millennials and has created much hardship for young people as they try to establish themselves. But the real kick is that student loans are near impossible to have dismissed in bankruptcy which is a truth that has burned many a borrower after wracking up tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. But a recent court ruling has scaled back, somewhat, the absolute protection after a borrower had loans she took out to study for the bar exam discharged. The judge stated that the loan was an arm’s-length transaction made for the express purpose to prepare for a professional examination and was not eligible to be protected from discharge. Due to the unique nature of the ruling it will be interesting to see if this case shifts other courts in defining types of loans that will be considered student.
See Katy Stech, Judge Rules Bankrupt Law Grad Can Cancel Some Debt, The Wall Street Journal, March 27, 2016.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
