You're confusing secured debt and unsecured debt. Student loans would almost not exist if they weren't secured by assets or guaranteed by someone with the assets to pay them off should there be a default. Since student loans have no collateral and most student don't have a credit record that makes loaning them $50,000 a rational risk, the only way for them to make sense from a risk point of view is for them to not be dischargeable. If you disagree, you are free to lend out your assets to every and anyone who wants to take college classes and as a personal loan, they will be dischargeable in bankruptcy. When they default, you will have no way to get your money back. Since you're advocating for others to take this risk, why haven't you done it yourself?