Strategic Default Among Private Student Loan Debtors: Evidence from Bankruptcy Reform

Supersedes Working Paper 15-17/R - Do Student Loan Borrowers Opportunistically Default? Evidence from Bankruptcy Reform

The reform was motivated by the perceived incentive of some borrowers to file bankruptcy under Chapter 7 even if they had, or expected to have, sufficient income to service their debt. Using a national sample of credit bureau files, the authors examine whether private student loan borrowers distinctly adjusted their Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing behavior in response to the reform. The authors do not find evidence to indicate that the moral hazard associated with dischargeability appreciably affected the behavior of private student loan debtors prior to the policy.