Half Grads Don’t Have Jobs
The unemployment rate for college graduates is lower than that for people without degrees, but that doesn’t mean they’re having an easy time of it.
In fact, a new study finds that about half of recent grads are still without full-time work.
The Rutgers University study released this week revealed that among those who’ve graduated college since 2006, just 51 percent are employed full-time, and 11 percent are unemployed or not working at all.
What’s more, fewer than half of those who’ve graduated since 2009 found their first job within a year of getting their degrees, and they’re three times more likely to have not have found full-time work than those who graduated between 2006 and 2008.
And even when they do find jobs, they’re making less money now, earning staring salaries of $27,000. That’s $3,000 less than graduates from the classes of 2006 and 2007 earned, a decline analysts blame on the surplus of job-seekers. And since over half of degree-holders have student loans in excess of $20,000, they’re feeling the pinch especially hard.
“The resilience of this year’s and recent college graduates are being tested,” said Rutgers professor Carl Van Horn, who co-authored the study. “Students who graduated during the past several years are facing historic obstacles in achieving the foundations of the American dream.”