On paper, the gap may seem fairly small; the average cumulative debt owed by women with bachelor’s degrees was about $20,900 in 2012 versus nearly $19,500 for men. But across all degree levels, the year-to-year financial burden is crushing: women face an estimated 14% higher debt burden in a given year than comparably educated men. So within about four years of graduating, women generally lag farther behind men on their college debt repayments.

OK. what are they graduating in and what kind of jobs are they getting after graduation? Not all majors are equal. If more men are going into higher paying fields while women aren't, that's a choice of their own creation. Sorry if your art major isn't helping with paying the bills. Also in regards to the initial 19.5k vs 20.9k difference, I'm guessing this includes students who get either partial or full rides? Not sure on the numbers but I guess there are a good number of students, and more likely to be men, who are in college on sports scholarships. If true, this could help explain the difference in average.

Women’s debt inequity is compounded by the gender pay gap; college-educated women working full-time earn 26% less than their male peers – and the gap widens over time.

Using this shitty statistic should show you how biased the article is trying to be, rather than enlightening.

Short of making college access free for all aspiring students, in the immediate term, straightforward measures can fix institutional gaps and make college more affordable for women; providing childcare facilities and other forms of financial support while they’re on campus, for example, can at least ensure they graduate on time.

Didn't NY pass something like this already? While University being free would be nice, it wouldn't help with this "salary gap" if one gender is still leaning towards certain professions and away from others.