Before policymakers consider how to solve the student debt problem, they should understand that today's typical indebted college student is not like the student of the past. Not only are they deeper in debt but likely older as well, with children, and working full or part time as they study for a degree.

Still they need to borrow to pay tuition and other college costs, which has contributed to a student debt explosion. 

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, almost 40% of students enrolled for the 2019-2020 academic year are 25 or older, and 57% are women.

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Bernice Napach

Bernice Napach is a senior writer at ThinkAdvisor covering financial markets and asset managers, robo-advisors, college planning and retirement issues. She has worked at Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg TV, CNBC, Reuters, Investor's Business Daily and The Bond Buyer and has written articles for The New York Times, TheStreet.com, The Star-Ledger, The Record, Variety and Worth magazine. Bernice has a Bachelor of Science in Social Welfare from SUNY at Stony Brook.

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