A new report scheduled to be released today during a U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing, chaired by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), shows that student loan debt among seniors has increased six-fold since 2005.
“Some may think of student loan debt as just a young person’s problem,” Nelson said. “Well, as it turns out, that’s increasingly not the case.”
The Government Accountability Office’s report shows that the amount senior citizens owe in outstanding student loans has increased from $2.8 billion in 2005 to $18 billion in 2013.
Though this is still a small segment of the massive amount of student loan debt held by former students throughout the country, the number of seniors facing student loan debt has quadrupled from 2004 to 2010, with 20 percent of that owed because of financing a dependent’s education.
For seniors living on a fixed income, it can become a crisis, especially if their income is being garnished. In 2013, the U.S. Department of the Treasury garnished the social security and survivor benefits of 33,000 people. In addition to the garnishment, multiple agencies can levy processing fees, adding to the crushing debt.
The hearing will be held at 2:15 p.m. today in Room 562 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.