As U.S. national debt topped $15 trillion last year, the nation’s students were setting their own records. A Wall Street Journal article reports that last year’s graduating class was the most indebted ever, averaging $22,900 in student loans per graduate.

“It’s a real problem,” says Liani Swingle, GPC assistant director of alumni programs. “After students graduate from college, they often have no clue about how to manage their own finances and make a budget for themselves. As an alumni association, we’re trying to do our part to combat this.”

Piggybacking on the success of last year’s networking-focused Alumni Enrichment Series, the Alumni Association offered a three-part educational series on personal finance. Sessions were held in February, March and April.

“We had great success with the fall Enrichment Series,” says Swingle, who designed the program. In the fall, the Alumni Association partnered with Debbie Rodkin of RE: Focus on Careers to provide advice on networking and leveraging contacts for your career. The success of that series attracted a partnership and sponsorship from Georgia United Credit Union for the spring event.

For more information, please visit the GPC Alumni website.