New College Graduates at Work: Employment among 1992-93, 1999-2000, and 2007-08 Bachelor's Degree Recipients 1 Year after Graduation. Stats in Brief. NCES 2014-003
Author: Staklis, Sandra
Date: 2014-03-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: College Graduates,Bachelors Degrees,Employment,Unemployment,Majors (Students),Education Work Relationship,Salaries,Enrollment,Part Time Employment,Multiple Employment,Gender Differences,Racial Differences,Age Differences,Occupations

This Statistics in Brief examines the employment outcomes of college graduates 1 year after earning a bachelor's degree. It compares 2007-08 bachelor's degree recipients who graduated at the start of the recent recession with their peers who graduated in 1992-93 and 1999-2000. Different labor market conditions characterized these three time periods. The U.S. unemployment rate rose from 5.8 percent in 2008 to 9.3 percent in 2009. The different labor market conditions of the years examined in this study meant that the three cohorts faced different employment prospects as they sought and began their first jobs as college graduates. The Brief begins by examining the employment and enrollment status of all college graduates 1 year after earning a bachelor's degree and then examines their employment experiences in more detail, including employment intensity (whether employed full time, part time, or in multiple jobs), occupation, and salary of those who were employed and not enrolled 1 year after graduation. Study questions include: (1) What was the employment and enrollment status of 2007-08 bachelor's degree recipients 1 year after college? How did the employment and enrollment status of these recent college graduates compare with that of earlier cohorts?; (2) How did college graduates' unemployment and employment in fields unrelated to their under-graduate majors vary with their demographic characteristics, including sex, race/ethnicity, and age? Did these outcomes change over time?; and (3) What were the relationships between college graduates' major field of study and their employment outcomes, including unemployment rates, the relatedness of graduates' majors and jobs, salary levels (among those employed full time), and occupations? The estimates provided in this Statistics in Brief are based on data collected through the first follow-up of each of the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Studies of 1993, 2000, and 2008 (B&amp;B:93/94 , B&amp;B:2000/01, and B&amp;B:08/09). Key findings include: (1) One year after graduation, the unemployment rate of 2007-08 bachelor degree recipients (9 per-cent) was higher than for those who attained their degrees in 1992-93 and 1999-2000 (4 percent and 5 percent, respectively); (2) Eight percent of female graduates who earned their degrees in 2007-08 were unemployed in 2009, compared with 10 percent of male graduates; (3) One year after graduation, unemployment rates for some majors increased between 2001 and 2009, whereas for other majors there was no measurable change; (4) In constant dollars, median annual salaries after 1 year were lower in 2009 than in 2001 for graduates in computer and information sciences, engineering, social sciences, humanities, business, and other applied fields; and (5) In 2009, recent graduates who reported that their jobs were closely related to their majors earned more than graduates reporting jobs that were either somewhat or unrelated to their major ($40,000 vs. $35,000 and $31,000, respectively). [This Statistics in Brief was prepared for the National Center for Education Statistics under Contract No. ED-IES-12-C-0095 with RTI International.]