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Comment by jancsika | Hacker News Reader

> The people agreeing to these debts, by definition, do not have an education in complex debt instruments that cannot be discharged.

I guarantee you that law/med school students have an education in "complex debt instruments that cannot be discharged."

Because before the current law was passed, they were the ones abusing the old "complex debt instruments" to discharge debt they knew they'd be able to pay back once they started making bank. The law was passed because they were doing this in large numbers. For these serious med/law students, the old system was free money. The new system is a reasonable risk.

Did you know this? If so, why did you write "by definition?" And why go off on a tangent about English literature students?

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“ guarantee you that law/med school students have an education in "complex debt instruments that cannot be discharged."”

All the people here claiming they know a good degree from a bad one as if they have divine providence of what will happen in 5 years

And I gave them a $100,000 and ask them you to buy and hold a single non-FAANG or meme stock for the duration of their degree you would probably loose money. Or to predict if you should hold shares vs bonds for 5 years, without adjusting their position, like you do with a degree.

You could start a degree as a VFC artist and in 5 years your job might disappear with AI.

What was the law that was passed? and what was the "old" method for discharging debt? Asking as someone interested in discharging some debt

You flew too close to the sun. You can’t argue with a bunch of people who are in debt and learned that playing the victim pays.

It’s funny. That everybody is mad at the banks and schools. But the politicians and do good laws passed are what caused all of this.

Banks did it want to give loans out for shitty degrees to people who would probably not pay them back. So laws were passed to force banks they had to give out loans.

Schools did not want to accept everybody, but only the top of class. But laws were passed forcing them to widen their acceptance criteria.

This creates the perfect storm we are in.

Before the system was self limiting. Banks only gave out loans for degrees and to people who had high probability to pay back. Schools accepted only the best students who had a high probability of succeeding.

The loans were low risk, high reward, and the schools were able to provide a higher level of overall education to those who did go.

> banks did it

Banks didn’t?

No they did not. They threatened to simply stop offering loans for school. The only way to get them back on board was to make the loans they issue for school was to make it so such loans could survive bankruptcy.

Many banks were fine not offering loans if it meant they could not decline offering loans for specific degrees, schools or even based on the applicants grades.

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