Student loans and bankruptcy – the upside to the downside!  Many boomers have helped to finance their children’s education by taking out students loans or by co-signing on students loans taken out by their children.  Now, with jobs scarce, this investment in a college education may not be looking like a financially wise one.  And it is true that except in cases of extreme hardship, student loans are not dischargeable in bankruptcy.  However, if other debts (medical, credit card, HELOC) are discharged, many people are able to afford those student loan payments more easily.  Then those payments appear on credit reports and help to raise credit scores more quickly.