Drowning in debt, more and more Americans are taking advantage of a Biden-era change that has made it easier to have student loans forgiven – if they’re willing to apply for bankruptcy.
Elizabeth Hadzic, a divorced mum-of-three, has ideas about what she would do if she weren’t facing a mountain of student debt: open her own therapy practice, return to her native Canada, work remotely and spend a month with her grandchild.
A change to the US bankruptcy process could make it all possible.
A change to the US bankruptcy process could make it all possible.
It is a move with potentially vast implications in a country where more than 43 million people carry student debt, generating a total debt load of more than $1.7tn (£1.34tn), and borrowers often face heavy monthly bills decades after they have finished their education.
Bankruptcy, said Ms Hadzic, “opens up opportunity that I couldn’t really see before.”
This summer she asked the government to erase more than $100,000 in debt from student loans she took on to train as a therapist. She faces potential monthly bills of more than $1,400 – a sum she said she cannot afford alongside the rest of her expenses.
“I thought I’d be able to pay it off… but what I do for work just doesn’t make that volume of money,” said the 50-year-old, who worked for community health, prison and homeless programmes before switching to a private company in 2019 to try to earn more.
Drowning in debt, more and more Americans are taking advantage of a Biden-era change that has made it easier to have student loans forgiven – if they’re willing to apply for bankruptcy.
A change to the US bankruptcy process could make it all possible.
Elizabeth Hadzic, a divorced mum-of-three, has ideas about what she would do if she weren’t facing a mountain of student debt: open her own therapy practice, return to her native Canada, work remotely and spend a month with her grandchild.
It is a move with potentially vast implications in a country where more than 43 million people carry student debt, generating a total debt load of more than $1.7tn (£1.34tn), and borrowers often face heavy monthly bills decades after they have finished their education.
A change to the US bankruptcy process could make it all possible.
A change to the US bankruptcy process could make it all possible.
It is a move with potentially vast implications in a country where more than 43 million people carry student debt, generating a total debt load of more than $1.7tn (£1.34tn), and borrowers often face heavy monthly bills decades after they have finished their education.
Bankruptcy, said Ms Hadzic, “opens up opportunity that I couldn’t really see before.”
This summer she asked the government to erase more than $100,000 in debt from student loans she took on to train as a therapist. She faces potential monthly bills of more than $1,400 – a sum she said she cannot afford alongside the rest of her expenses.
“I thought I’d be able to pay it off… but what I do for work just doesn’t make that volume of money,” said the 50-year-old, who worked for community health, prison and homeless programmes before switching to a private company in 2019 to try to earn more.
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