This is just not right. While I don't think student loan debt should, in general, be forgiven, I have to agree with you that the laws need to be changed so something like this can't happen. Even so, under those circumstances, repayment would be a problem, and should qualify, imo, for some sort of relief. That's the kind of forgiveness that is fair and right, and that I think most fair-minded Americans would approve of, as opposed to blanket forgiveness for deadbeats, which is absolutely not the case here.