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Over 8 million borrowers over age 50 hold 22% of the federal student-debt load, or $336.1 billion.
Insider spoke with borrowers with debt burdens they fear won t be paid in their lifetimes.
One borrower started with $79,000 in debt, paid $175,000, but still has a balance of over $200,000.
At 59 years old, David Wise has $236,485 of outstanding student loans, according to documents reviewed by Insider. That s after making about $175,000 in payments over four decades.
He said that when he graduated from law school with the goal of becoming a public-interest lawyer, his debt load stood at about $79,000, and he had initially taken out just $7,500 in loans when he entered undergraduate school in 1981.