Components of a federal student loan are simple. There are two pieces to it.
There is the 'promissory note' which is held by the government.
There is the debt, which is owned by the student.
That is it. When a student takes out a student loan, a note is made and the consequent debt is incurred. A sum of money is credited on the students behalf. The value of the promissory note is what is paid by the student.
A bank has to have three components.... first they have to have the money to lend out. Then a promissory note is created along with the debt obligation by the borrower. That promissory note can be bought and sold to others. This happens often with mortgages.
Some key distinctions
A bank has to have the money on hand to lend out. The federal government does not. The federal government has the super power to literally create/print money out of thin air. Before a federal student loan is created, there is no money. Just a note and an obligation to pay are created. They balance each other and that is enough. If the debt is cancelled and the note voided there is once again no money. The only thing 'new' that was lost is the interest that was paid.
Another distinction, is that the federal government does not sell student loan debt. If they did, then the pre-existing money would be made real as the money would come from some would be investor. Banks... often sell of their debt, particularly mortgages. They loan out as a mortgage, $100,000 to someone. The note is sold, probably to an investment fund which bundles up mortgages, and the bank gets their $100,000 or so back immediately. Now the investment fund holds the note...and collects the payments from the borrower. Private student loans issued by a bank, have to have pre-existing money and they can potentially be sold off to another investor.
Anyone holding a note can cancel the debt owed. A bank or investment fund can cancel your mortgage.... they probably will not because they want the principle and the interests. It can happen and sometimes by court order.
Of course all of this is muddled by reporting. By way of accounting the debts and amounts 'loaned' out are tallied up. The federal government lends out a billion dollars... out of thin air. That billion dollars was not there before. When cancelled it won't be there after. Who paid for it? The students did, until it was cancelled. There was never a note sold. No one else was ever on the hook for the cancelled debt. It is in effect turned into a grant.