2008 has been a tumultuous year in the financial world, culminating in scandals and bailouts. In 2009, the author asserts, people can probably expect not only more financial upheaval, but also further attempts by state and local governments to stem the all-but-fated turmoil. But in all the talk of bailouts, of embattled homeowners, and the transfers of public funds intended to prop up various failing institutions, it seems that people are overlooking another worthy group of bailout candidates: overburdened college graduates saddled with student-loan debt. In this article, the author calls for some relief for students with loans. He argues, the situation is particularly dire for people from the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder, who find themselves waiting tables, sweeping floors, doing substitute teaching, or otherwise remaining chronically underemployed instead of benefiting from an education meant to move them past their humble beginnings. It is proposed that lenders perform a case-by-case analysis of each student in debt.