News of weakening job markets and extended economic turmoil is fueling the concern of graduating college students worried about finding jobs and repaying student loans.
Molly Kersten, a senior majoring in business finance at ETSU, is worried that new jobs within her field will be limited considering the economic upheaval surrounding businesses, banks and Wall Street. Kersten is now weighing graduate school as an option.
“If I have trouble finding a job, I may go to grad school,” Kersten said. “That will give me some time to see what the economic situation and job outlook is. Or I could always teach.”
Kersten, poised to graduate in 2009, doesn’t want to take a job outside her field, especially a lower-paying job. She sees graduate school as a way to delay student loan payments, even if it means taking out more loans.
“It really is an investment, since I will be more valuable with a master’s degree,” she said.
Student loan payments are due as early as six months after a student’s status changes, and many students feel as if they will be on the clock to find a job the minute they are given their diplomas.
A Nov. 7 report from the U.S. Labor Department indicates students may be justified in feeling that way. In the last three months alone, 651,000 jobs have been cut and the unemployment has risen to 6.5 percent.
Amy Mann, a returning junior, has an optimistic view. “Jobs are still out there, but it may take longer to find them,” she said. “There will also be more competition for each position, but having a degree will help.”
The U.S. Labor Department reports that the unemployment rate among people with at least a bachelor’s degree is 3 percent. Compared to the 6.5 percent national unemployment rate, holding a degree does seem to make a difference.
Mann, pursuing a degree in public health, has another reason to be optimistic. The health-related professions are some of a very few to post growth during the recent employment downturn according to the labor department report. For others like Clifton Carter, a construction engineering senior graduating in May, finding a job within his chosen field may be more difficult.
Construction employment in general is down in this economic climate.
Carter is confident that he will find a job through recruitment but concedes that he may have to be more flexible about things like relocation, something that he didn’t consider an issue when he started in the program.
The countdown to repaying his student loans is another consideration.
Carter will be making 120 monthly payments of $250 on nearly $20,000 in student loans.
“That’s a pretty big chunk out every month when you’re just trying to start out,” he said. Carter will not be alone.
According to a report issued in October by The Project on Student Debt, Class of 2007 graduates in Tennessee averaged $19,034 in student debt. For students entering into weakening job markets, repaying student loans may be challenging.
According to Keith Johnson, the chairman of the department of engineering technology, surveying & digital media, his department is one of the few at ETSU that still has recruiters hiring directly out of the department.
“A lot of students can wear a suit to school, have an interview, get a job before graduation, and continue with class that day,”Johnson said.
The department, from which Carter will graduate, works with about 10 different local companies looking for surveyors, construction engineers, and other related careers.
“Not everyone in the program will end up in a local position,” Carter said.
“But it is comforting to have the demand brought to you, just to know that the jobs are still out there.”
Digital media majors are recruited by Pixar, Disney and other companies, Johnson said.
The future may be a concern for some students graduating this December, but there is still celebration.
“I just can’t believe graduation is so close” said Carter. “I thought I’d never actually finish.”
Carter is excited, despite worries about moving on to the next stage of his life.

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