The average debt AU undergraduate students accumulate in four years of college for federal loans is $19,000, according to Shirleyne McDonald, associate director of Financial Aid.
However, there is no way for the Office of Financial Aid to keep track of personal student loans because the student initiates those loans, she said.
AU graduates are part of the current trend of college graduates across the country who struggle with student loans while they try to make the best career choices.
The average amount of student debt at public and private colleges was $20,000 for the 2007-2008 academic year, according to Robert Franek, vice president and publisher of The Princeton Review.
"Most students are in the same boat," he said. "Very few students pay the full sticker price [of college tuition]."
The increase of college tuition has exceeded the family salary, Franek said. Since college tuition costs continue to rise, it is more difficult for students to come to terms with the amount of loans they need to acquire, especially since family income has not increased.
Franek said he has noticed that current college students are more aware of their educational opportunities by interning and making themselves marketable with their liberal arts degree upon entering the job hunt.
"Students are smarter about how they are using their liberal arts degree," he said.
Students with an undergraduate degree are more likely to earn an annual income 40 percent greater than an employee who does not have a college degree, Franek said.
The Princeton Review ranked AU 18th in the country for "Best Career/Job Placement Services" this year, and the university has not seen a direct trend in student loans affecting student's career choices after graduation.
Students are aware of their financial situations, said Bridget O'Connell, director of outreach and marketing at the AU Career Center.
"The awareness is helping them ask the right questions to pursue a career," she said.
Many students find the process of finding a job and paying off student loans to be a daunting task, but a plan makes the process more feasible. Students should begin searching for jobs early, O'Connell said.
Students now come into the Career Center aware that many employers now offer assistance in student loan payment, she said.
The federal government can help federal employers repay student loans, according to O'Connell.
The Partnership for Public Service is a non-partisan non-profit organization that works to promote career opportunities for college graduates. The organization promotes federal agencies that are authorized to help repay up to $10,000 of a loan per year, or up to $60,000 total per employee. Any employee who receives student loan repayments must remain with the job for three years, according to a flier from the Partnership for Public Service.
Zach Huey, a senior in the School of International Service, said his primary motive for finding a job after graduation was not to help pay off his college loans.
"I'm not worried about the job hunt in the sense to pay off college debt more that to live in general," he said.
Phuoc Tran, a senior in SIS, said he would look for higher paying jobs to pay off his loans.
"With $50,000 in loans, I will choose to look for jobs in the private sector instead of a government job," he said.
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