When it comes to student loans, Lamar Dawson has won some battles – and lost some battles.

He graduated from the University of South Florida with just a few thousand dollars in debt. But his master's degree at the University of South Carolina left him about $27,000 in the hole, plus a car payment. Later on, a free ride at Georgetown University – for a second master's degree – helped Dawson launch a new career. But his existing loans languished in deferment, bloating his principal balance.

Now, as a public relations specialist in New York City, he's repaid his debt ahead of schedule. Dawson, who is black, is generally content with how he financed his education. Paying down his loans was "more of a sacrifice than a struggle," he says.

But many black and low-income students struggle more than Dawson did when it comes to paying for college. They tend to borrow at higher rates – and take on more debt – than their white peers.

Much of this lopsided loan burden is an offshoot of the greater trend of broadening income inequality. These students "have to borrow in higher amounts because they have less wealth to begin with," says Sara Goldrick-Rab, a professor of educational policy studies and sociology at the University of Wisconsin—Madison.

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When it comes to approaching college financing, students from low-income backgrounds can only do so much to reverse their fortunes. "You can't make your family have more income and wealth," says Sandy Baum, a senior fellow in the Income and Benefits Policy Center at the Urban Institute. "But you can think hard about what path you're choosing."

Here are the facts and figures when it comes to borrowing among black and other minority students – and how to avoid becoming another student loan statistic.

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• Black and low-income students borrow more and more frequently to earn bachelor's degrees, even at public schools, states a report from Demos, a public policy organization. While fewer than two-thirds of white public university graduates take on debt, more than 80 percent of black graduates borrow to attend university, according to Demos' data analysis.

Black graduates also have higher loan balances, taking on $35,477 for private college and $29,344 for public. White students borrow about $4,000 less for each. "We're burdening those who have the fewest means to begin with," says Mark Huelsman, senior policy analyst at the organization.

There are myriad ways to reduce borrowing and choose the right college financial fit. And college-bound minority students may have to make an extra effort to tap their network of college-educated adults, whether it's made of guidance counselors, neighbors or local business owners, to get the skinny on the college financing process. They "have to be a pain and annoy everyone in their lives to help them get the information that they need to go to college," says Brian K. Bridges, vice president for research and member engagement at the United Negro College Fund.

• Black and Latino students attend for-profit institutions at higher rates than other students, says the Center for Responsible Lending. Among the overall college population, black and Latino students make up fewer than one-third of students. But they make up nearly 45 percent of for-profit attendees, according to the Demos report. The problem: For-profits tend to leave students with more debt and graduate them on-time less often.

"Think 100 times before you go to a for-profit institution," says Baum, of the Urban Institute. On average, 90 percent of black students borrow to earn a bachelor's degree at a for-profit, with the average debt load hitting $39,695 for a four-year degree. For Latinos, the average debt is $39,583, with 89 percent of bachelor's degree earners borrowing, according to the Demos report.

• African-American and Latino students have lower graduation rates at four-year colleges, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Students who delay graduation tend to pay more as they shell out for extra semesters, delay entry into the workforce and absorb tuition increases.

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While the overall four-year graduation rate was 39 percent for the class of 2010, black students donned a cap and gown within four years only 20.5 percent of the time, according to the NCES. Just 29.2 of Hispanic students earned a degree in four years. At two-year colleges, black students still graduate on time at lower rates, but Latinos do better, the NCES data show.

Students can question a college's graduation track-record up front. "Make certain you know what type of institution you're attending, what percentage of students graduate, what percentage of people like you graduate from college and what the average debt level is for those students," says Huelsman.

In the end, while larger forces may be at work, Dawson, the former student, hopes that greater financial education will help minority and low-income students approach paying for college knowledgeably. "Anything you can do to teach students about personal finance is a big key," he says. "Most people from African-American families and low-income families are just trying to live day to day."