Job prospects for recent graduates are still low according to a Rutgers University report released last Thursday. The John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development study titled, Chasing the American Dream: Recent College Graduates and the Great Recession, revealed that each graduate may be "struggling to find full-time jobs." The survey questioned 444 ex-students from four-year universities and colleges who graduated between the years 2006 to 2011.
Although some graduates have found positions in their respective fields, many have not been paid the kind of wages that those positions should provide. The report emphasizes that the majority of graduates do not believe that going to college was futile, but many did reveal that they were "far from achieving a full-time job with benefits and a secure career."
Carl Van Horn, Professor and Director of the Heldrich Center and a co-author of the study said that "Students who graduated during the past several years are facing historic obstacles in achieving the foundations of the American dream and express low expectations for their future prosperity." He added that recent grads "are being tested as they struggle with student debt, a slow job market that offers few toe-holds in their chosen careers, and nagging fears about a lack of preparation for global labor market competition."
The report found that more than half of recent graduates currently have full time jobs. Just 4 out of 10 graduates said that their jobs "required a four-year degree," while 2 out of 10 said their first position placed them "firmly on a career path." Around 12 percent were working part-time and trying to get a full-time position or they were unemployed.
Paying off student loans has also been a battle for recent graduates. The survey revealed that over half are finding it difficult to pay their loans and several continue to borrow funds in order to further their education. Nearly 6 out of 10 graduates owe an average of $20,000.
Those who graduated between 2009 and 2011 are still paying off their loans. About 1 out of 5 graduates decided to pursue an advanced degree such as a master's. More than 60 percent of those graduates, who chose to continue their education, had loans averaging $30,000, but did not make any payments on their debts. The report also showed that the average salary for employed graduates was $37,750, while those that did not have at least a bachelor's degree earned around $32,000.
Cliff Zukin, Professor and co-author of the study, stated that "The cream of the crop of America's youth, graduates of four-year colleges and universities, believe the American dream of upward mobility may have stopped with them." He believes that today's youth "who are typically optimistic about their futures, are expressing doubt in another cornerstone of the American dream - that each generation can enjoy more prosperity than the one that came before it."
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