latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-college-graduates-20120510,0,1924782.story

Half of college grads working full time, with less pay, deep debt

By Tiffany Hsu

8:31 AM PDT, May 10, 2012

For most recent college graduates, these are gloomy times. Only about half are working full-time, with the majority starting with less pay than expected while also dealing with huge student debts. Nearly six in 10 think theyfll end up less financially successful than their elders.

Itfs a pessimistic outlook from the subjects of a study from Rutgers University, which this spring surveyed hundreds of people who graduated between 2006 and 2011. About 12% are under- or unemployed (many of the rest are volunteers, in the military or still in school).

Workers who graduated during the recession – from 2009 through last year – earned a median starting salary of $27,000 – or $3,000 less annually than earlier graduates. Nearly a quarter of all respondents said their current job pays much less than theyfd anticipated.

Female graduates earned $2,000 less than their male counterparts.

Most fresh college grads said their first jobs didnft help them advance along a career path – and that the positions didnft even require a four-year degree. Four in 10 said they took the work just to get by.

Even to get current jobs, a quarter of recent grads said theyfve had to look below their education level and outside their professional fields. Many have also had to accept less-than-optimal hours and go without health benefits.

Many are still struggling. Among recession-era graduates, the majority get some kind of financial help from their family. A third live at home or get help for housing costs; a quarter rely on family to pitch in for food and healthcare costs.  

Student-loan debts – which in 2010 totaled $1 trillion, or more than the amount Americans owed in credit debt – donft help. A quarter of all the recent graduates havenft made any progress in paying off what they owe; four in 10 recession-era graduates are in the same boat.

The pressures of education loans have caused 40% of graduates since 2006 to delay major purchases such as a home or a car. The burden has caused nearly 30% to put off more education. Marriage or committed relationships are currently out of the cards for 14% of debtors.