They are unsecured in that there&#x27;s no collateral that can be &quot;quickly&quot; (&lt;1 year) repossessed to recover most of the loan, just as any other unsecured debt - credit cards and other consumer lending.<p>The differences in bankruptcy are not relevant; for student loans the lender can easily be unable to pay for the rest of their lives, thus it&#x27;s classified as unsecured loan.