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The Supreme Court yesterday denied Thelma McCoy's petition for certiorari that sought review of a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruling that she did not satisfy the test under Brunner v. New York Higher Education Services Corp., 831 F.2d 395 (2d Cir. 1987), for discharging her student loan debt as an "undue hardship," Reuters reported. McCoy contended that the courts of appeal when faced with defining undue hardship are "deeply divided" between the rigid Brunner test used in most circuits, and the "holistic, equitable approach" of the totality-of-the-circumstances test applied by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and within other circuits. The two approaches "diverge sharply in both application and outcome," and the Supreme Court's "intervention is necessary to bring uniformity to this important and recurring question," she said in her petition, filed in January. Further, she argued that her case presented "an ideal vehicle" to resolve the circuit conflict, because if her case had been filed in a non-Brunner jurisdiction, that court would have exercised its discretion to consider "all facts relevant to undue hardship." McCoy had entered college in her 40s, first obtaining a bachelor's degree, followed by a master's in 2006 and a Ph.D. in 2014, borrowing $175,000 to fund her education, according to court filings. While pursuing her Ph.D., McCoy suffered significant injuries, and had difficulty finding work after graduation due to what she said are continuing disabilities. McCoy filed for chapter 7 relief in 2016 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, and initiated an adversary proceeding against the U.S. Department of Education seeking to discharge her student loan debt, which had ballooned to $350,000.