Can I discharge student loans in bankruptcy? The short answer to that question is yes, you can. The longer and more difficult answer is, it’s really hard but not impossible.

Most states, including Maryland, follow a three-part test that was created in 1987, and you have to meet each of the three parts. First part is you have to show that paying the student loan would be an oppressive difficult obligation that will not enable you to meet a minimum standard of living.

The second prong of this three-part test is that you have to show that this condition is likely to persist for a significant period of time. The third condition or the third prong is that you have to show that you’ve made a good-faith effort to repay the student loans.

When this test was first articulated back in the 80s, student loan debt was not the crisis that it has become today, so a lot of judicial districts and circuits are loosening up these three conditions in order to help people discharge their student loans.