Today's college and university students are leaving school with larger debts than their predecessors and having a harder time finding jobs to be able to repay those loans, according to a report released this week by the California-based Institute for College Access and Success.

Over the four years the institute has tracked data, the average debt load of an American college graduate has increased by about 6 percent per year, according to the report titled "Student Debt and the Class of 2008."

Nationally, 75 percent of graduates of four-year colleges and universities left school in 2008 owing an average of $23,200. By the third quarter of 2009, the unemployment rate for college graduates ages 20 to 24 had risen to 10.6 percent, the highest on record, the report stated.

Virginia ranked 27th among the states in proportion of students who leave school with debt and 31st among states for the average amount of debt accrued.

In 2008, 58 percent of Virginia graduates left school owing an average of $19,747, the report stated. The highest proportion of student debt was found at institutions in the northeastern U.S., and the lowest was found in western states, according to the report.

The report is one of many tools parents and students can use to decide on the best school for them, said Matt Reed, author of the report and program director for the institute.

Reed said the report demonstrates that families and students should look at more than the sticker price of tuition and compare financial aid packages and the estimated total cost of attendance including housing, all of which can vary widely from school to school.

But the report also draws attention to the rising costs of a college education, an issue of concern across the country, Reed said.

Within regions and states, debt loads vary widely.

Of the 15 four-year public supported Virginia institutions analyzed, Radford University had the highest proportion of students carrying debt after graduation. Eighty-eight percent of 2008 Radford graduates left owing an average of $19,465, according to the report.

Old Dominion University came in just behind Radford, with 80 percent of its 2008 graduates carrying an average of $16,950 each in loans upon completion of their degrees.

The next highest was Longwood University, where 63 percent of 2008 graduates assumed an average of $14,935 each in debt.

Fifty-two percent of Virginia Tech graduates were in debt upon graduation, owing an average of $21,678, the report stated.

The University of Virginia had one of the lowest proportions of students in debt, with 33 percent of 2008 graduates owing an average of $19,016.

"Our students find themselves sort of caught in the middle," said Radford spokesman Jeff Douglas. "They are perhaps too affluent to qualify for Pell Grant assistance, but maybe not affluent enough to address the full cost of their education.

"We do everything we can to maximize financial aid for our students," Douglas said.

According to the report, in 2008 17 percent of Radford students received Pell Grants -- federal aid set aside for the nation's lowest-income students -- while 11 percent of Tech students and 8 percent of UVa students received them.

Among Virginia schools, Norfolk State University had the highest proportion of students receiving Pell Grants at 48 percent. Data on student loans and debt were not available for Norfolk State.

Many factors can affect a particular school's debt rankings, including student demographics and the mix of grant and aid options at each, Reed said.

Despite Virginia's relatively good showing in the report, mounting state budget cuts to colleges and universities and resulting tuition increases continue to pressure students.

So colleges are working to help reduce their debt and offset some of the rising expenses. At Tech, officials have taken a portion of tuition increases and put that money into financial aid programs, university spokesman Larry Hincker said.

Tech has also offered tuition caps to some students, Hincker said.

The student debt report issued Tuesday by the institute was based on federal student aid data and the so-called Common Data Set, which is gleaned from the results of surveys conducted by publishers of college rankings, such as U.S. News & World Report.

Because of the limitations of self-reported data, the state figures may understate average debt levels by as much as $5,000 and the percentage of students with debt by as many as 12 percentage points, according to the report.