As students ask themselves if they dare take on the student
loans they'll need for college, the questions are especially
critical for women. More women are going to college than men,
and women are earning higher grades on average. But a year after
graduating from college, they are earning less in their jobs
than men who graduated when they did. Their lower salaries
typically follow women throughout their careers, as raises build
on the previous level of pay, according to a report by the
American Association of University Women. With lower pay than
men, women could have a tougher time handling the same amount of
student debt as their male peers. Researchers Christianne
Corbett and Catherine Hill used 2009 data from the U.S.
Department of Education's National Center for Education
Statistics and found that one year after graduating with a
bachelor's degree, women were earning 82 percent of what their
male peers were earning. Women working full-time earned $35,296
on average, while men working full-time earned $4