<- Blogs Posted on 02/23/2010


Stacy Stevenson

A New York Times article about the current economic status of the class formerly known as the “middle class” in the United States caught my eye this past Sunday. The article noted that “traditionally, three sectors have led the way out of recession: automobiles, home building and banking.” Oops. Guess we can’t count on those sectors this time around. The auto industry is beginning to show signs of improvement but nothing to write home about, yet. Home building and the real estate market in general still flounders and while some might say “There’s nowhere left to go but up,” it appears that the flight will not be a fast one. And the banking industry? Aside from a loss of trust and faith in these institutions, a push from places like the HuffingtonPost.com encouraging people to move their money from the big four banks (Bank of America, CITIGroup, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase) to smaller, locally owned and operated banks could have far reaching implications.

It’s a scary world out there and I am not in a rush to trade the safety net of higher education for the “slim pickins” of the wanted ads. And apparently, I’m not alone. A quick skim through news headlines that come up on a search for “university enrollment” mentions “increases” and “historic enrollment” in nearly every headline regarding academic institutions, large and small, coast to coast.

Here in Kent, total spring enrollment this year is up by 11.6 percent.

The Ohio Board of Regents Preliminary Headcount report, updated January 15, 2010, echoes Kent’s growth across the state in other academic institutions. They report Ohio main campuses saw a 4.1 percent increase in enrollment from Fall 2008 to Fall 2009 while there was an 11.5 percent increase at regional campuses across the state. Community colleges in the state saw the most growth overall with an increase of 16.6 percent in enrollment.

The combined statewide increase of all campuses and institutions accredited by the Board of Regents was 9.3 percent.

Even in my cocoon of books and classes and tuition waivers, the future looms dark on the horizon. I am often pondering what a job search will look like when and if I decide to enter the “real world” again. I have to wonder if a master’s degree will be enough to make a person stand out. With so many people entering post-graduate programs, will a flood of graduate degrees over the next three to five years create a growth in unemployed MA and PhD holders? Aside from my own personal goals set years ago when I was wide-eyed and dreaming of having lots of initialed titles after my name, I think I also held the notion that an advanced degree was also a golden ticket; a guaranteed job in the marketplace. Now, I am not so sure.

The chart below includes information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and charts the number of unemployed, 25 and older college graduates, quarterly from 1999 to 2009. This is not a number that anyone currently in school wants to see go up.



With rising tuition costs and more students staying on for post graduate work, they have loans to pay off. And many of the students I talk to, while worried about the job market, still feel that there will be a return on their educational investment.