Latinas struggle to overcome pay discrepancies based on race and gender, making it difficult for many to pay back student loans, according to new data.

College graduates often face tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt for years after graduation. Once when they are employed full time, many of these graduates slowly start paying off their loans.

Male college graduates who have full time jobs are able to pay off their loans much faster than female graduates, a report by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) states. However, the gender pay gap between men and women among Latinos is even worse, causing Latinas to struggle more to pay back loans.

Women Only Pay Small Amounts After Graduating

Men who graduated during the 2007-2008 school year spent the period between 2009 and 2012 paying off part of their student loans. These men were able to pay off 44 percent of their loans, but women were only able to pay off 33 percent because on average women are paid only 82 percent of what men are paid.

Latinas Can't Make Progress on Loans

After graduating college and working full time, Latinas were only able to pay off less than 10 percent of their loans during that same period of time. The gender pay gap for Hispanic women versus men is even greater than the standard male versus female gender pay gap of 82 percent. Despite having degrees and full time jobs, Latinas make much less than men and cannot afford to put much money towards their loans.

Women still pay whatever they can toward their loans. Fifty-three percent of women, compared to 39 percent of men, allocate more money toward their loans than the average individual can afford. Because of this, women are not able to save for retirement, a car or a home. Additionally, women are less likely to take risks like switching job industries or starting their own businesses.

The average Latina had a balance of $21,626 in debt in 2009 after graduating in 2008. Three years later in 2012, the average amount they owed remained at $21,026, meaning they only paid three percent of their loans in those three years.

Latinas Paid Less Than White Men

Latinas have a distinct disadvantage when compared to men with regards to paying off student loan debts. Even accounting for the schools they attended, the types of degrees they earned and other factors, Latinas still lag behind men in pay. Latinas make 89 percent of what Latinos make, but only 54 percent of what white men earn.

The AAUW urges companies to conduct regular salary audits to monitor and address gender pay gaps. With these audits, companies will notice if a man with the same position as a woman is being paid a higher salary, potentially allowing bosses to address the issue.

The Paycheck Fairness Act, introduced in 2013 by Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.,would update the 1963 Equal Pay Act to address gender pay gap issues. AAUW has endorsed the bill and urges Congress to pass it.

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