Title 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8) of the United States Bankruptcy Code provides that, in order to obtain a discharge of an otherwise nondischargeable student loan, an individual in bankruptcy (the “debtor”) must establish that he and his dependents would suffer an undue hardship if he were required to repay the student loan.

In December 2005, the Fourth Circuit adopted the so-called Brunner three-part test for determining dischargeability of student loan debt in chapter 7 cases. The Court had previously applied the Brunner test for determining the dischargeability of student loan debt in chapter 13 cases....