Okay,
go through this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt_settlement

basically a third party agency will negotiate your debt with creditors and if they negotiate it will be somewhere around 40-50 cents on a dollar. which means your debt will be reduced by more than half. since personal bankrupty has risen more these days, you might get better deal. but in return, you have to make a mandatory monthly payment to the remaining of the debt until it clears off your account. and until and unless you pay off entire netotiated debt, the whole mess will be still attached to her name. so make sure you pay off  the remaining of the balance.  of course, third party will charge some commission for doing all these work.  you might get better deal if your debt is more than 10K. i don't know what kind of loan have you taken from university. is it secured loan or unsecured loan. are you given loan by university or through university by third party creditor like banks.

basically google these debt settlement agencies and give them a call and tell them your situation on loans and get some ideas.