<human>: Throwaway here.

History: My boyfriend Jake wanted to go to culinary school and his parents offered to pay his tuition. He went for five quarters (one full school year plus half a semester apparently). His mom paid the first quarter in full. The next quarter she apparently paid the first month's bill and then stopped. She did the same thing for the next two quarters until my boyfriend landed an internship at a restaurant and ending up leaving school to work at the restaurant full-time. All the while, Jake had only had the vaguest notion of what was going on with his tuition. 

The last quarter he attended, Jake's mom told him that he would need to apply for financial aid because she wouldn't be able to afford it. He went to the financial aid office where they helped him complete his FAFSA. When he got to the section that asks for parental tax info, he called his mom. Turns out she hadn't filed taxes for the last five years (she still hasn't btw) and he couldn't proceed without her info. When Jake told her that he couldn't get financial aid without her tax information, she once again agreed to take care of the bill. 

A year ago Jake's mom let him know that they had an outstanding balance and that he would need to "take care of it." 

Today he got a letter stating that he owes $35,000. We make probably $80,000 combined and on our current budget I don't know how we can even make a dent in this. Even if we could work out a payment arrangement, we would be making payments for the next twenty years. Is bankruptcy the best choice? If so, which chapter?

Bonus info: This is not a student loan, it is actual unpaid tuition. He has an auto loan with a credit union that he would reaffirm but no other major debts. We are in our mid-late 20's so his credit would recover by mid-30s. I'm bummed because we were planning on getting married and buying a house, but I guess I could buy the house alone. I make more money and my credit is fine.

Can you provide a brief overview of the text?
<bot>: Boyfriend's mom promised to pay tuition, didn't. He now has a $35,000 collection. Should he file for bankruptcy while we're still youngish enough to recover? Ch. 7 or Ch. 13?