Denise Sparks graduated from college in 1995 with $30,000 in debt. Then her life turned challenging.

First, there was the divorce from her husband, which left her to raise two children on her own. Then she fell ill and had multiple operations. Along the way, a psychiatrist diagnosed her with depression, bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorder.

She often missed work and didn't have enough money to send in her student loan payments. Today her debt, with interest, penalties and fees, is more than $230,000.

"I can't plan for retirement," Sparks, 53, said. "I'll die before this could ever get paid back."

Sparks reached out to a number of lawyers where she lives in Phoenix about filing for bankruptcy, but to no avail.

"One attorney just cut me off," she said. "He didn't want anything to do with it."