As an undergraduate at Christopher Newport University, Kelcie Chandler did not know that there was a significant difference in how much debt women and men hold after graduating from college. But she did notice that her female classmates were much more likely to talk about their debt than were the men she knew.
Women talked about “what kinds of jobs they were getting, and the pay for those jobs, and being concerned about whether or not they can pay rent, and pay for their groceries and their car payment, and also student loans.”
One question, she noticed, was on a lot of female students’ minds — “Am I going to be paying off these debts until I die?” Though the question may have been posed hyperbolically, it does reflect the daunting task students face upon graduation.