Spread the loveStudent loan defaults have surged to 9.2 million borrowers, representing roughly one in every five people with student debt. Another 3 million borrowers are reportedly at least 90 days delinquent and appear headed in the same direction. In 1998, Congress made federally guaranteed student loans virtually impossible to discharge in bankruptcy, and in 2005 that protection was extended to most private student loans as well except under the nearly impossible “undue hardship” standard. Student loans are particularly dangerous because they directly impact younger generations who are supposed to form households, buy homes, start businesses, and drive future economic growth. That loss of confidence has consequences far beyond student loans.