Survey shows depth of college students’ financial worry

It's hardly news that young people in college have worries about their looming debt, but a recent online survey by the credit company Experian indicates just how widespread the worry is, and how far in a financial hole many students are.

The survey of students within six months of graduation found, for example, that more than two thirds had student loan debt, with the average amount over $20,000; about a third already had credit card debt averaging more than $2,500, and fewer than one in five had a job already lined up.

Forty percent of those surveyed rated their sense of financial security “poor” or only fair.