They cannot. He was trying to anyways. Quoting the article which is quoting the court:

  The applicant testified that during the pendency of the   
  bankruptcy proceeding, the payments on his student loan 
  obligation would be greatly reduced. ... the panel 
  observed that the only debt that could be discharged in a 
  bankruptcy proceeding would be the applicant’s $16,500 in 
  consumer debt, as the applicant’s $170,000 in student 
  loans are nondischargeable in bankruptcy.