Ed researchers: Colleges can do more for students, especially in a bad economy
College is worth the investment. College graduates can't find good jobs. Student loan debt keeps rising, and now tops a trillion dollars. What can be done?
Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa’s new book, Aspiring Adults Adrift, follows 2009 college graduates into the world of work and civic participation. “Students who didn’t work hard in college are having a harder time finding jobs,” Arum tells podcast host Stephen Smith. Arum and Roksa found:
24 percent of graduates are back living at home with their parents;
74 percent of graduates are receiving financial support from their families;
Only 47 percent of graduates in the labor market have full-time jobs that pay $30,000 or more annually.
Nearly half the graduates they surveyed rarely talk about current events or politics. On the podcast, Arum says colleges should be tougher academically. He says colleges have more incentives to show students a good time than a way forward.