Here's the short answer: There is a glut of college graduates, some of whom aren't all that sharp. That means there is evidence this problem of temporary underemployment for college grads also is a long-term trend in the U.S. economy. The same is true for 34% of recent college graduates. Increasing numbers of recent college graduates are ending up in relatively low-skilled jobs that, historically, have gone to those with lower levels of educational attainment. Most Underemployed Majors: "People who graduate with a bachelor's degree in these 10 subjects were most likely to say they were underemployed" payscale. Those with an associate major have an unemployment rate of 3.5%. FIGURE 4 College Graduates' Underemployment Rate, by Age and Race, 2011-2013 The underemployment rate was 34% for all college graduates and 41.1% for recent grads. There are 13 million more college graduates than jobs requiring college degrees. Recent college graduates who are underemployed earn, on average, $10,000 less per year than their counterparts doing college-level work, the report found. Underemployed college graduates are ones who have earned their degree but are working jobs that don't require a college degree. This percentage was the same as the previous month, when 33.6 percent of college graduates. Workers with less than a bachelor's degree earned $50,000 or less in such jobs. If they don't have plans to go on to graduate school, they may have to settle for jobs that don't match their education or training. Even more shocking is the fact that college graduates in general had a 33.8 % underemployment rate. Almost half (43%) of underemployed college graduates work in jobs paying more than $45,000 a year, despite those jobs not requiring a degree. Greetings From Reality. And here are the rankings for the least underemployed majors. The 45% share holding non-college jobs with pay above $45k earn an income roughly equivalent to college grads' median pay ($57k, per 2018 USD Census data). Another recent study by the Pew Research Center found that the median yearly income gap between high school and college graduates is around $17,500. Joe Trapasso; February 26, 2019 . Around 53% of recent college graduates are unemployed or underemployed. However, a recent study conducted by researchers from Burning-Glass Technologies reported that "43% of college graduates are underemployed in their first job." Furthermore, the study revealed. The co-authors point to research showing a potential decline in demand for skills since 2000 as the . underemployed in their firstjob: 47% of female college graduates are initially underemployed, compared to 37% of male college graduates. As an unemployed college graduate, not having a steady career can negatively impact the graduate's financial . June 28, 2013. 2007 and 2013, the underemployment rate for all recent college graduates increased 3.7 percentage points. Job grow trends compared to educational needs show that the disparity between . 41.4% of college graduates are underemployed in their first job. In reality, "women are set back from . Colleges must help prepare the class of 2021 to navigate the worst job market in decades. For most working-class graduates, it is a time of unexpected struggle. Understanding the post-grad job market means looking beyond the binary divide between "unemployed" and "employed;" the reality of the situation is much more nuanced and much more complex. Women are disproportionately affected. By Melissa Korn. However, it was lower than the 6.5 percent unemployment rate for 22- to 27-year-olds without a four-year degree. Since 2007, the underemployment rate for young black college graduates rose 10.1 percentage points, reaching a high of 55.9 percent in 2013. Careers Career Categories Arts & Humanities . Currently, around 44 percent of graduates (ages 22 to 27) are underemployed and work in a job that does not require a college degree. About 1.5 million, or 53.6 percent, of bachelor's degree-holders under the age of 25 last year were jobless or underemployed, the highest share in at least 11 years. In the 2021-22 school year, the average tuition and fees for fulltime undergrads in a four-year program rose 2.1% to $38,070 at private universities and climbed 1.5% to $27,560 for out-of-state . According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics 37 percent of graduates are in occupations requiring no more than a high-school diploma. In 2016, the average college student graduated with a staggering $37,000 in student-loan debt. This is significant, Weise says, because it strikes down the notion that motherhood, the so-called "mommy track," is responsible for the persisting gender pay gap. That is consistent with the view that a substantial majority, probably about 70 percent, of those who are underemployed at 22 are still underemployed at 27. A job is classified as a college job if 50 percent or more of the people working in that job indicate that at least a bachelor's degree is necessary; otherwise, the job is classified as a non-college job. Rather, it stems from . The unemployment rate for college graduates is 2.4% Approximately 53% of new graduates are either unemployed or underemployed. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the underemployment rate for recent college grads was 40% at the end of March 2021. This has become the reality for thousands of college graduates across the country today. Defining "underemployed as working in low-paid jobs that don't require college degrees, the analysts, Jaison R. Abel, Richard Deitz, and Yaqin Su, found that roughly 6 percent of recent college graduates, aged 22 to 27, were unemployed at the beginning of 2013 and 44 percent were underemployed. Nearly half of all female college graduates are underemployed in their first jobs, compared to 37% of male graduates, according to the study. The high share of unemployed and underemployed young college graduates and the share of employed young college graduates working in jobs that do not require a college degree underscore that the current unemployment crisis among young workers did not arise because today's young adults lack the right education or skills. The average college graduate takes around 6 months to find their first job. The data in the paper show, for example, that the proportion of college graduates at age 27 who are underemployed is lower than at age 22, but not dramatically lower. In 2000, the share was at a. Career bridge programs provide graduates with relevant skills training and contacts. . Notes: The underemployment rate is defined as the share of graduates working in jobs that typically do not require a college degree. Of special note is the 59.8% rate for Leisure & Hospitality, the sector with the highest Coachella Valley employment. On top of that, a lot of college graduates have to deal with the emotional stress of student loans. Defining "underemployed as working in low-paid jobs that don't require college degrees, the analysts, Jaison R. Abel, Richard Deitz, and Yaqin Su, found that roughly 6 percent of recent college graduates, aged 22 to 27, were unemployed at the beginning of 2013 and 44 percent were underemployed. Even with a . In 2000, the share was at a low of 41 percent, before the dot-com bust erased job gains for college graduates in the telecommunications and IT fields. Vedder and his co-authors (and CCAP colleagues), Christopher Denhart and Jonathan Robe, cite federal . Thirty-seven percent are in jobs that require a high-school diploma or less. According to its recent underemployment report, while those at lower educational levels are more likely to be underemployed than those at higher educational levels, workers with some college. As noted in this Business Insider article, "the pool of college graduates is growing more than twice as fast as the pool of jobs requiring a college degree.". Its Jobs Tracker notes that, according to BLS estimates, 21,880 new legal jobs will be created per year between 2010 and 2020. The unemployment rate for recent college graduates (4.0%) exceeded the average for all workers, including those without a degree (3.6%) in 2019. People with a bachelor's degree have a 2.1% unemployment rate. What's more, almost of third of recent college graduates reported earning salaries of less than $25,000 a year. Wages are also picking up. Many college grads often take minimum wage jobs or jobs that they're overqualified for in order to make ends meet. Learn how to spot the signs of underemployment and find out what you can do to avoid this career pitfall. A recent study showed that college graduates who start their careers underemployed are more likely to remain underemployed 5-10 years later. Steadily rising, the underemployment rate for recent graduates increased from 34 percent in 2001 to 44 percent by 2012. In a report released today, Vedder and two co-authors up the ante in the debate. Fast forward to 2014, and that gap balloons. This would result in nearly 30 million underemployed college graduates over this decade. According to survey by the New York Fed, in December 2019, recent college graduates had a 41% underemployment rate. Mass media majors have an unemployment rate of 6.2%. Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott . 16.8 percent of recent college graduates are underemployed. The December 2019 unemployment rate for individuals aged 22 to 27 with a bachelor's degree or higher was, at 3.9 percent, slightly higher than the 3.6 percent unemployment rate for all workers between the ages of 16 and 65. In June 2022, about 33.6 percent of college graduates were underemployed in the United States. A recent study from Georgetown University found that, on average, college graduates earn $1 million more in earnings over their lifetime. And because initial underemployment can prove so challenging to escape for most people, this gender divide persists over time with greater numbers of women stuck in underemployment. Answer (1 of 5): The studies I've seen put that number closer to 40%. Oct. 26, 2018 5:30 am ET. Label. Graduating from a college or university is comparable to a bird leaving its nest: warm, . Yesterday, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that a full 44 percent of recent college graduates were underemployed as of 2012, meaning that they were working in jobs . As of December 2021, 41% of college graduates ages 22 to 27 were underemployed, compared with 34% among all college graduates. Meantime, their average student debt has risen to close to $40,000. There are not enough jobs that require a college degree. Over the last year, the unemployment rate averaged 31.1 percent for recent high school graduates and 9.4 percent for recent college graduates. Around 33 percent of college graduates are underemployed. A number of employed graduates are actually "underemployed," meaning they are either . The vast majority of college seniors don't have a job lined up when they graduate. The underemployment rates for recent college grads rose in 2020 as the COVID-19 outbreak strained the job market, but have since returned to pre-pandemic levels. The researchers' study of U.S. government data on pay suggests that recent graduates of bachelor's degree programs who are underemployed earn about $10,000 less, on average, than the fully . Students weighing their college options are increasingly focused on the return from that hefty investment, pursuing disciplines they think could lead to . This means that deciding to "temporarily" start your professional. Women are disproportionately. University Enrollments and Labor Market Realities," expands on previous writings by Vedder and others. What's more, underemployment for recent grads was increasing even before the recession started in late 2007. The rates are well below the recent peaks in June 2020. According to a survey conducted by Reuters, "More than 40 percent of recent U.S. college graduates are underemployed or need more training to get on a career track." The survey also discloses that more than 25% of these graduates have already enrolled in a Master's degree program. That's not really fair, though. Unemployment rates varied by major, ranging from 3% to 8%. To support themselves, some are forced to take jobs they're considered to be overqualified for. Post-college underemployment is a deeply classed experience. Currently, 41 percent of bachelor's degree holders ages 22-27 are "underemployed," meaning they're working jobs that don't require a four-year degree . About 48 percent of all working college alumni - not just recent graduates - were underemployed in 2010 as the United States began a slow recovery from the Great Recession, including 5 million . Many college graduates start off underemployed, leading to long-term underemployment. About 1.5 million, or 53.6 percent, of bachelor's degree-holders under the age of 25 last year were jobless or underemployed, the highest share in at least 11 years.