As students return to UC Davis next week, more of them are relying on some form of financial assistance to help pay for college. Grants and scholarships alone rarely cover the costs, which amount to about $4,200 per quarter at UC for California residents. "Some 55 percent of the student body has already been awarded some form of financial aid for the coming academic year," says Lora Jo Bossio, assistant director of financial aid at UC Davis. "So far, for this new school-year, $111 million has been disbursed to more than 13,000 students." Bossio says that last year $120 million was paid out to students with loans making up as much as 60 percent of all aid. The average debt load for a graduating senior at UC Davis after four years of college is now climbing from about $10,000-$12,000 a year ago to about $12,000 - $15,000 this year, Bossio notes. Seniors graduating from UC Davis last June collectively owe more than $43 million in educational loans.