Backpacks crammed to the brim with textbooks aren't the only burden students are carrying on their shoulders. Now more than ever, the volume of college students graduating with debt continues to grow.

Mathematics senior Gina Dattolo is paying her own tuition and has gotten aid by taking out yearly Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, loans.

To call Dattolo "busy" during her past four years as an undergraduate would be an understatement.

She works as a teaching assistant in the mathematics department and previously worked as a residence hall cafeteria worker, a tutor for MSU athletes at the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center and has taught students in previous summer semesters.

Dattolo also goes home for the summer and works at a golf course and banquet center — a job she's had since age 15.

Dattolo is fortunate, though, in that she can keep her loan obligations in the back of her mind, even as her FAFSA loan will enter its repayment period six months after she graduates.

"I don't really think about paying them off," Dattolo said, who estimates she'll be $13,000 to $14,000 in debt by the time she leaves MSU. "I'm hoping to go to a teaching program in New York. They give you a bunch of extra money. I figured I could use it to pay off everything."

According to the MSU Office of Financial Aid, the average amount of debt an undergraduate student accumulates throughout his or her college career is $19,000. For graduate students, that amount is $30,000.

When Congress passed The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, access to financial aid became limited. The act cut $12 billion in federal aid money from the national budget, which increased rates on federal student loans.

In the past year, the interest rate on the Federal Stafford Loan increased about 2 percent on existing loans and spiked to a 6.8 percent fixed rate on new loans. The deadline to pay a lower interest rate on federal student loans was July 1. According to university officials, students can still consolidate their loans, but they must pay the new raised fixed interest rates.

"Students with old loans who don't want to consolidate are at the market's mercy as the interest rate changes," said Rob LaBreche, College Loan Corporation's president of consumer marketing.

However, since the deadline has passed, LaBreche tells students and parents to look at their current financial situations before consolidating because the interest rate could decrease over the next quarter.

"It's about what best fits the student," he said. "Whether a student just graduating and looking to keep his old rates, or a student taking out loans for the first time, it's all about getting that lower monthly payment."

Seniors like Dattolo are those most affected by rising interest rates, said Val Meyers, MSU's associate director of the Office of Financial Aid.

Meyers said she witnessed an increase in the amount of loans being taken out and that higher tuition costs are responsible for higher borrowing rates.

"It's too soon to tell what kind of effect the increased interest rates will have on students," Meyers said. "The first loans with the new interest rates are just being taken out. We won't know the immediate effects until three or four years from now when students start paying them back."

Meyers recommends that any student wishing to consolidate or take out any loans should contact the MSU Office of Financial Aid by calling (517) 353-5940 or e-mailing finaid@msu.edu to find out the exact interest rate appropriate for specific loans.

"More students are taking out more private loans on top of their federal loans," Meyers said. "That can become a burden because students are responsible for paying off more than one loan. Private loans are also subject to market interest rates."

Packaging and finance senior Jon Selander is approaching graduation and he is making sure to cover all financial bases.

"I've taken out several Stafford Loans over the course of studying two majors," Selander said.

He said he received some help from his parents paying for school his freshman year, but since his sophomore year Selander has been financially independent.

"The best thing in dealing with loans is to know what interests you so you can get going into the meat of your classes," he said.

Repaying student loans is just another part of higher education costs, Selander said.

"I try not to worry about paying off loans," he said. "Sometimes I ask myself what would I be doing if I didn't have a degree? I think that situation would be much worse."