> It would be difficult to do if the person had worked themselves into a situation where they have unreasonably high debt burdens (e.g. $200K+) but no career to

> It would be difficult to do if the person had worked themselves into a situation where they have unreasonably high debt burdens (e.g. $200K+) but no career to speak of, so it's not a magic bullet. There is a way: income-driven repayment plans. There are several flavors, but you pay ~10% of (your_income - 1.5 x federal_poverty_wage). The poverty guideline depends on household size (info here: https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/poverty-guidelines https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/povert...). Most loans are eligible. Any balance that is left after 20 years is forgiven. It’s a lot harder to default on these loans, and it’s the best way out for people with an insurmountable amount of debt. Actually, it’s probably the best repayment plan for most people, and there has been talk about making them the default plan. However, you may have to pay taxes in the forgiven amount. There are some edge cases where you could pay more over the life of the loan if your income increases dramatically, but it’s unlikely. More info: https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/repayment/plans/income-driven https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/repayment/plans/income-d...