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College Graduates Have More Debt, Fewer Jobs, But Hey, There's Always Grad School
By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 3, 2011
Modified Nov 3, 2011
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Dmitrijs Dmitrijevs/Shutterstock
By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 3, 2011
Modified Nov 3, 2011
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Students graduating from college in 2010 had an average debt load of $25,250, up five percent from 2009. And unless they're lucky enough to score a highly-coveted job at a collection agency, chances are these students are unemployed or underemployed. It's bleak! How bleak is it? It's so bleak that college graduates today face the highest unemployment rate in recent history: 9.1%. Good thing a college education is about intellectual enrichment and not just some institutionalized bourgeois method for joining the middle class.
A report released today by the Project on Student Debt found that two-thirds of college seniors graduated with loans in 2010. The study also says that states with the highest average debt for 2010 graduates are all in the Northeast and Midwest. New Hampshire had the highest average debt at $31,048—but hey, that Dartmouth diploma really ties your parents' basement together. New York ranks tenth for the highest average student debt, with $26,271 average per graduate. But don't let that stop you from doubling down and enrolling in grad school.
Last week, the Obama administration announced new programs to help students graduating into a Great Recession world with crippling debt, but Republicans oppose the changes, arguing that might encourage excessive borrowing. And we wouldn't want these kids to think they can just rely on the government for help when they're in a financial bind.
Tagged
college
debt
student debt
student loans
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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