Student Loan Discharge Assessment

This assessment is modeled on the U.S. Department of Justice attestation process (justice.gov) and the Brunner three-prong test used in most circuits to evaluate undue hardship under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8): (1) you cannot maintain a minimal standard of living if forced to repay; (2) that hardship is likely to persist for a significant portion of the repayment period; and (3) you have made good-faith efforts to repay. The hardship and good-faith questions are weighted, and the assessment also scores five circumstances the DOJ attestation specifically treats as strong indicators that hardship will persist — being 65 or older, having a disability or chronic condition, being unemployed for at least 5 of the last 10 years, not completing the program the loans funded, and loans in repayment for 10 or more years — any of which strongly signals a candidate. The loan-type, balance, household-size, and income questions are not scored but reflect the financial picture the attestation analyzes against IRS and household living standards, and explain that federal loans require an adversary proceeding while private loans are general unsecured debt that may be dischargeable without proving undue hardship (studentaid.gov; CFPB). The November 17, 2022 DOJ and Department of Education guidance and attestation process streamlined how the government reviews federal-loan requests, though the guidance is non-binding and does not bind courts (justice.gov). You may qualify to discharge your student loans, but no outcome is guaranteed — a court decides. People's Justice is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice; we connect you with licensed attorneys, and we are not a government agency.