Student Loan Borrowers Slow to Rely on Touted Bankruptcy Tool

The federal government trumpeted the initial success of an initiative to make it easier to eliminate student loans when filing for bankruptcy — but a year later the results are more tepid than consumer advocates had hoped.

The guidance from the departments of Justice and Education, introduced in November 2022, has the potential to change lives and upend nationwide standards that for nearly three decades have made it virtually impossible for struggling borrowers to get rid of federal student loans.

But changing the trend has proved more complicated than advocates had expected due to reluctance from lawyers and a slow-to-change ...