Trends For College Grads

Chuck on July 2nd, 2009

Now that I’m twittering I follow some people and CNN is one of them.  This morning their update said that unemployment has reached the highest rate since 1983 – 9.5%.  In June alone there was another 476,000 jobs lost.  That’s all interesting to me, but mainly because it’s greatly affecting college graduates.

The harsh reality is a bachelor degree today is nothing more than a high school diploma was 35 years ago.  It’s a necessary level of education, no doubt.  But, even with obtaining the 4-year degree it certainly doesn’t guarantee you a job – just ask anyone that’s graduated from college in the last few years!  I do find it interesting that a lot of college students still view their education as a shoe-in to a career – I think that will certainly change in the next 5-7 years.  From an outside perspective we might not view a college degree as a sure thing for a successful career, but most students still do.  Again, that will change though.

Now, many graduates are not entering the corporate workforce, but instead finding more of a place working with non-profit organizations, community service organizations, etc.  I think it was NBC that just did a special on this a few weeks ago, tracking Duke graduates who many would automatically move to Wall Street after graduating – but now that platform has been taken away from them with today’s economy.  As I watched that show, I kept thinking to myself that there is some health to this trend.  I’ll likely be blogging much more about that soon.

picture-71But for this post, you may want to check out an AmeriCorps program designed specifically for 18-24 year olds.  It may come in handy as you talk to recent grads who are wondering what the next step is.  AmeriCorps NCCC could be a great next step for them to get involved in a missional way, but also build a resume for the future.

Related posts:

  1. Future of College Education?
  2. New Right of Passage?
  3. Isn’t as new as we think…
  4. why embrace college-age people?
  5. Transitioning H.S. Grads

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