College graduates are the new unskilled worker

The youth unemployment rate for newly minted college graduates in the 20- to 24-year-old age bracket is at an all-time high of 60.6 percent, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Labor.

This raises the question of whether students can find meaningful employment after graduation with the degrees they currently have.

According to a study done by the Department of Education, the average debt-load per student is $21,600 at schools where students study art, music and design.  The loan payment for this amount of debt would average out to $250 a month. Even after five years of work experience, graduates that make $40,000 a year would still feel an earnings crunch.

But do math and engineering majors fare any better?  They do somewhat.

Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce conducted an analysis on government education data that found that people are much more likely to get a job out of college if they choose a major with a clear career path, such as business. They also stand to make a lot more money if they choose a math or science major over liberal arts.

Unless students get a significant amount of work experience outside their liberal arts major, liberal arts degrees do not confer any marketable skills upon graduation by themselves. High schools should start to prepare students from the start by offering advanced placement courses and getting more students interested in careers that are sorely needed in our economy.

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