"Once you're labeled a political person, it can be hard to maintain credibility. Maybe it's not fair, but that's sometimes the perception," he says.

The Lure of the Private Sector

Political apathy is not the only factor driving students away from careers in politics and government, however. Disgust and disillusionment may push some out of politics, but the enticements of private sector jobs lure still more away.

As the American economy enters its seventh year of uninterrupted growth, the competition for Harvard-educated employees is only intensifying. Graduates fresh out of school, with almost no experience and no concrete skills, can earn $50,000-$60,000 their first year--more if they have technical skills.

For students graduating with suffocating loan debt, such incentives can be hard to turn down. McLain admitted he took his job in consulting partly due to the desire to pay off his loan.

"It's hard to pay off your loans on a government salary," acknowledges Anna B. Benvenutti '00, one of just a few who plan to work on Capitol Hill or in a federal agency in the fall.

Even the University was concerned that students were too circumscribed by their loan debt, contributing to across-the-board increases in financial aid in 1998.

"Part of the reason Harvard went through its financial aid program was because the institute feared that students were making career choices based on their abilities to pay back loans," says William Wright-Swadel, director of Harvard's Office of Career Services (OCS).