On May 31, 2018, the total public debt outstanding of the U.S. government stood at $21.145 trillion dollars. Of that amount, $1.211 trillion was borrowed so that Uncle Sam could be in the business of making student loans.

Over $1 trillion of that subtotal was borrowed after President Obama took over the student loan industry on March 30, 2010.

As trends go, the chart of the history of the U.S. government's borrowing to fund student loans looks like an ugly hockey stick, the kind that can have negative implications for the population, particularly those Americans who have a crippling level of student loan debt.

So much so that a number of federal judges are now considering upending the laws written by Congress that make student loans largely exempt from being discharged in bankruptcy proceedings. These laws make it nearly impossible for recipients of Federal Direct Student Loans to gain relief from the burden of their having borrowed money from the U.S. government.