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.

But 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.