A new study by the Government Accountability Office found that a small but increasing number of older Americans are burdened by a growing student debt load. According to the report, “Student debt among older American households has grown in recent years. The percentage of households headed by those aged 65 to 74 having student debt grew from about 1 percent in 2004 to about 4 percent in 2010.”

“While those 65 and older account for a small fraction of the total amount of outstanding federal student debt, the outstanding federal student debt for this age group grew from about $2.8 billion in 2005 to about $18.2 billion in 2013,” the report noted. Overall, the total outstanding student debt is $1.1 trillion.

The report was released a Senate Aging Committee hearing this week. “Some may think of student loan debt as just a young person’s problem,” said Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., chairman of the committee. “Well, as it turns out, that’s increasingly not the case.”

Read more about the hearing and the report here.