SPOTLIGHTS
Chasing the American Dream: Recent College Graduates and the Great Recession
A new Heldrich Center survey of college graduates from 2006 to 2011 finds:
- Recent college graduates are struggling to find full-time jobs. In fact, just over half of recent college graduates are working full time.
- More than half of the nation's recent college graduates are struggling to pay off their student loans and many are borrowing to obtain additional education.
- While the majority of college graduates are satisfied with their college education, if given the opportunity to start college over again, most would have either chosen a different major, taken different courses, or participated in more internship and work experiences
- Only about one-fifth of recent college graduates believe that their generation will have more success than the one before them, and more than twice as many think their generation will be less successful than the one that preceded them.
These are some of the main findings from Chasing the American Dream: Recent College Graduates and the Great Recession, a new report from the Heldrich Center. The Heldrich Center interviewed a national sample of 444 graduates of four-year colleges and universities in April 2012, using the web-enabled KnowledgePanel(r) conducted by Knowledge Networks, a GfK Company, of Palo Alto, CA.
A number of media outlets have featured stories on the new report, including National Public Radio, WHYY, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Wall Street Journal.
NEWS & UPDATES
- CNNMoney: Van Horn on Younger Workers Getting Hired
- The Fiscal Times: Van Horn On Baby Boomers Using Savings to Support Adult Children
- Politico: Van Horn on Unemployment Benefits
- CNN: Carl Van Horn on Five Myths of Unemployment Insurance
- Daily Targum on Board Member Edwin Melendez's Presentation on Pathways to Economic Opportunity
- Rutgers Today Features William M. Rodgers III on Freelance Workers
- 60 Minutes on Unemployed Workers
- Huffington Post: Van Horn on the Latest Jobs Numbers
- Van Horn on Economic Recovery
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Looking for the latest Heldrich Center publications? Click here for a list of our most recent publications, all listed in reverse chronological order (with most recent listed first).
THE HELDRICH CENTER: CELEBRATING FIFTEEN YEARS OF ACHIEVEMENT
In 1997, with the national unemployment rate below five percent, Rutgers Professor Carl Van Horn and Johnson & Johnson Executive John J. Heldrich met to discuss the creation of a national research and policy center devoted to helping employers and workers respond to the rapidly changing world economy. It was a meeting that resulted in the founding of what is now known as the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University.
Throughout 2012, the Heldrich Center will be celebrating its 15th anniversary with a series of events and multimedia products. To begin, on March 22, the Heldrich Center faculty, staff and national advisory board and close to 200 of its supporters and partners gathered at The Heldrich Hotel in New Brunswick, New Jersey to celebrate and reflect on the Center's many accomplishments. The gala dinner, an opportunity to raise funds to continue the Center's pioneering work, featured a video address from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and a special video highlighting the Center's mission, impact, and accomplishments. Plans are under way to host other events throughout 2012, including a symposium in the fall.
We hope you will join us in celebrating the Heldrich Center and supporting our work. If you're not already a member, be sure to join our listserv today so you can stay current on the latest news, research, and events from the Center. And please take a few minutes to check out the overview of our achievements and research priorities.
The NTAR Leadership Center seeks to build capacity and leadership at the federal, state, and local levels to enable change across workforce development and disability-specific systems that will increase employment and economic self-sufficiency for adults with disabilities.
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