Spring Break
Party's over. Was it worth it?
Bachelor's degree does not guarantee jobs in your field
Anna Camp
Issue date: 11/23/05 Section: Features
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Robyn Richardson slumps in her seat after a long day of work at a job she detests but is thankful for.
Richardson explains how both her parents simply slid into their jobs out of college. Jobs they loved, while her post-college life has not been so easy.
"It's been extremely hard since I graduated to find the kind of job I thought I could get with a bachelor's degree," said Richardson,, a 2004 TCU graduate and now employee for Child Protective Services. "I didn't see this coming."
Richardson, who has a degree in social work, found it almost impossible to land a job related to her field. She is finding that a master's degree in social work is needed to get a job that pays adequately and that she enjoys - the kind of job she thought her bachelor's degree from TCU would provide.
Richardson said she feels lucky her current employer will pay for her to attend graduate school and receive her master's degree, but she will be leaving as soon as her contract ends to look for a better job because she does not enjoy her current duties.
"Like a lot of my friends that graduated with bachelor's (degrees), I'm finding that things are a lot different than when my parents graduated from college," Richardson said.
Students and experts agree that the job market for college graduates is changing, and that the changes do not favor graduates with bachelor's degrees. Some economists cite a list of reasons for these changes, including factors students have control over.
The Statistics
Daniel Hecker, a labor economist for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, affirms what Richardson and her friends are experiencing.
"A college degree is not a guarantee of anything these days," Hecker said. "And it used to be that it was."
Hecker said that since the number of college graduates has increased in recent years, some graduates are finding there simply aren't enough jobs for graduates with bachelor's degrees.
The paychecks bachelor's degree-holders take home are not increasing as much as other workers, especially in relation to high school workers. According to recent calculations from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median weekly pay of the high-school educated is up 3.6 percent since 2000, adjusted for inflation, a rate of increase four times as great as the 1-percent rise in pay for the college-educated.
Richardson explains how both her parents simply slid into their jobs out of college. Jobs they loved, while her post-college life has not been so easy.
"It's been extremely hard since I graduated to find the kind of job I thought I could get with a bachelor's degree," said Richardson,, a 2004 TCU graduate and now employee for Child Protective Services. "I didn't see this coming."
Richardson, who has a degree in social work, found it almost impossible to land a job related to her field. She is finding that a master's degree in social work is needed to get a job that pays adequately and that she enjoys - the kind of job she thought her bachelor's degree from TCU would provide.
Richardson said she feels lucky her current employer will pay for her to attend graduate school and receive her master's degree, but she will be leaving as soon as her contract ends to look for a better job because she does not enjoy her current duties.
"Like a lot of my friends that graduated with bachelor's (degrees), I'm finding that things are a lot different than when my parents graduated from college," Richardson said.
Students and experts agree that the job market for college graduates is changing, and that the changes do not favor graduates with bachelor's degrees. Some economists cite a list of reasons for these changes, including factors students have control over.
The Statistics
Daniel Hecker, a labor economist for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, affirms what Richardson and her friends are experiencing.
"A college degree is not a guarantee of anything these days," Hecker said. "And it used to be that it was."
Hecker said that since the number of college graduates has increased in recent years, some graduates are finding there simply aren't enough jobs for graduates with bachelor's degrees.
The paychecks bachelor's degree-holders take home are not increasing as much as other workers, especially in relation to high school workers. According to recent calculations from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median weekly pay of the high-school educated is up 3.6 percent since 2000, adjusted for inflation, a rate of increase four times as great as the 1-percent rise in pay for the college-educated.
