In the spring of 2011, about 1.65 million people will graduate from college with a bachelor’s degree. Despite all the pomp and circumstance of this momentous event in an individuals life, most graduates will now ask themselves, “now what?” rather than “when is my first job interview?”
According to Time magazine 30 percent of college graduates don’t land a job within six months of finishing school. Furthermore, most college grads are also moving back in with their parents rather than venturing into the first phases of their careers and their first apartments.
Many critics are quick to blame the economy and the “great recession,” but there are many more facets to this current trend than merely blaming the economy (again). Many college graduates feel that the answer is more education, which in turn usually results in more student loan debt. However, the larger issue seems to be what many undergrads are choosing to study, rather than lacking even higher postgraduate education.
Some critics are blaming the education system itself, because it is not encouraging students to study in the fields where more jobs will be available when they graduate. The problem is that liberal arts skills are in surplus while science and engineering skills are scarce. Others say that it is the employers that need to adjust the way they hire recent college grads. If companies would be more flexible and hire qualified graduates and train them to fit the needs of the company, employment numbers would increase.
Whatever the circumstances, it is a more somber setting at most college graduations than in previous years. College graduates must work at a feverish pace to make their more than $100,000 degrees worthwhile.
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