College Dropout

Kanye’s 2007 album entitled “Graduation” is the third installment of Kanye West’s planned tetralogy of education-themed studio albums. But what happens after graduation? Kanye’s next album, “808s & Heartbreak” might be the first indicative clue. 67% of college graduates graduate with a job offer each year.. The average student accumulates $31,000 in debt over a four year period of formal college education; graduating without a job in your field of study and more debt than ever can make even the most optimistic people wonder why they went to college in the first year place.

I sat down with three recent college graduate to get an inside look. For the sake of privacy we will name them Students A, B, and C. All three students relied on federal loans and aid to get them through their undergraduate careers. After each completing at least one highly coveted internship, and GPA’s of 3.0 or higher; only one graduated with a full-time job offer. Even so, the accumulation of debt has made it hard for Student A to do anything with his money besides make loan and car payments. Student B enrolled in graduate school and is is close to accumulating almost $75,000 in debt; with only the possibility of a job pending good grades and completion of another internship. Student C, graduated undergrad with the least amount of debt but no job offers, and is currently living at home and working part-time in field completely unrelated to his major.

Some would consider this the luck of the draw; but others would consider this the sad reality of truth. Students pour thousands of dollars into an education system that seemingly does not benefit them beyond the classroom. What are we to do… education reform? On average colleges spend $12,000 of their student’s tuition on sports programs that do nothing to better or benefit the average student. Maybe the first step is lowering the cost of education so that students are in less of a muck when they graduate without jobs. In addition to lower costs; colleges should do more to connect students with jobs and graduate program opportunities prior to and graduation. Perhaps a mandatory class on resume building, interview skills, and business practices should be provided. Instead of having recruitment sessions with empty promises for the sake of looking good on paper; colleges should bring in companies that actually have positions to fill and that are not so limited to engineering and business majors.