Good (and bad) news, grads
In another sign that the economy is improving, a report shows that more and better paying jobs await new college graduates.
But there's a lot to be said for what's not in that report, too.
According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, companies expect to hire 10.2 percent more new graduates this year than last. And those getting the jobs will be paid a median starting salary of $42,569 - an increase of 4.5 percent over last year.
Majors in greatest demand are, in descending order, engineering, business, accounting, computer science and economics, according to the survey of 160 employers. Graduate engineers are expected to start at a median salary of $58,581, making it the highest paying category for new graduates.
The trend is promising. Employers surveyed have posted 15,767 jobs for college graduates this year, up from 14,341 for the Class of 2011 and the pathetic 5,174 for the Class of 2010. But don't think that piece of sheepskin is going to guarantee you a $40- or $50-grand gig.
According to the report, employers have already received 33 applications for every job posting. Only a year ago, 21 new grads sought every job posted. You want competition, you got it.
And that's where inference takes us today - down the path of what's not in the report. What is implied but isn't stated is that merely signing up for liberal arts classes without a particular focus - without a specific end in mind, as Seven Habits fans might say - is both foolish and costly.
One of the great weaknesses with the American education system, compared to that of many other nations' systems, is that some students go all the way through college graduation without having any career plan or even realistic idea of what they want to do. Academic counseling geared toward helping students figure out how they're going to make a living is weak and, in many high schools and college campuses, nonexistent. Loans remain abundant for students regardless of the likelihood of their ability to pay them back upon graduation.
Show us a student who spends six or seven years earning a generic degree, having changed majors multiple times and perhaps settling on the path of least resistance, and we'll show you one who is not going to be landing one of those coveted jobs for new grads. Add to the equation that many of these students borrow extensively for the degree to nowhere, only to discover they can't earn enough to pay the money back, and you have a great start on the formula for failure - failure of the student and of the education system that allows, sometimes even encourages, this to happen.