Go to college, graduate, get a related job. A new report challenges the perception that a college education is necessary to enter the workforce.
The Burning Glass Institute, a data research firm, and the Strada Education Foundation, a talent research firm, released a study Thursday that found most recent graduates, who earned their degrees between 2012 and 2021 in the United States, did not have a job that required a degree.
According to the study, more than half of college graduates (52%) were “underemployed,” working in fields that didn’t require a college degree to enter, such as food service, office support, sales, construction and retail. Furthermore, 73% remained in these fields even 10 years after graduation.
It’s unclear how many hours worked per week were considered “underemployed” in this report.
Although the typical college graduate performs better in the labor market than workers with a high school diploma, “a sizable share of college graduates do not achieve the economic outcomes they expected from earning a college degree,” the study says.
College majors such as communications, journalism, psychology, and visual and performing arts reported the highest levels of underemployment, while health professions, such as nursing, had the lowest rates of underemployment.
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The report also showed that there are financial effects associated with underemployment. Recent graduates employed in college-level jobs earn an average of $60,000 per year, while underemployed graduates earn $40,000. Additionally, underemployed college graduates have been found to take home $8,000 more per year than high school graduates, who earn an average salary of $32,000.
The researchers used 2022 data and determined average earnings by looking at workers who were employed full time, year-round or who worked at least 35 hours a week and 50 weeks a year and not enrolled in school.
Unlike high school graduates, however, underemployed college graduates continue to carry an average of $34,700 in debt for their degrees.
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The study presented hope that quality guidance for college students, access to clear employment outcomes, and access to paid college internships could help close the gap.