TERRE HAUTE —
Let the doomsday crowd line up like a scene from “Animal House.”
The naysayers will run the Class of 2012 through a gauntlet of bad news. The newest, youngest college graduates will be expected to quietly absorb the gloomy predictions with a respectful, “Thank you, sir, may I have another.” After all, the obstacles they face in the current job market loom large.
n More than half of college grads under the age of 25 were unemployed or underemployed in 2011, according to the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University. That means 53.6 percent of those folks are either jobless or working a job in which their college training is not put to use. Ouch.
n For every 1-percent increase in the national unemployment rate, students graduating in a recessionary era earn 6- to 8-percent smaller paychecks in their first year of work than people who graduated in more stable economic times, according to a Yale School of Management researcher. (The U.S. jobless rate is now 8.2 percent.) Ouch.
n The average college graduate now shoulders $25,250 in student-loan debt, according to the Project on Student Loan Debt, cited in a Medill School of Journalism report. Together, all college grads owe more than $1 trillion in outstanding student loans. Ouch.
None of those boulders is insignificant, but many of the folks who’ll earn college diplomas this weekend from Ivy Tech Community College, Indiana State University and St. Mary-of-the-Woods College have one checkmark on the positive side of their ledger that eventually will take the sting out of all those negatives.
n They’re young.
The job market eventually will improve, especially as the pace of baby boomer retirements continues to quicken. Eventually, the boomers who dominate Congress and state legislatures will be replaced by younger Americans who more keenly appreciate the magnitude of financial hardships caused by soaring college tuition rates and student-loan debt. Eventually, the latest college grads will land the job that matches their skills, even if they have to leave their hometown or home state to find it.
In fact, the people who’ll toss their caps in the air this weekend could constitute one of the nation’s strongest demographic groups. Why?
n They’re tough.
On average, those receiving degrees in ’12 started their college careers in the teeth of the Great Recession, enrolling in either the fall of 2007 (just before the economic nosedive began) or the fall of 2008 (when the financial markets and U.S. auto industry imploded). Through all of the turmoil, likely engulfing their own families, they didn’t quit, though the temptation was strong. They heard skeptics question, understandably, whether the value of a college diploma was worth the costs, yet the students kept studying. They’ve learned to think critically while surrounded by doubt. They’ve heard the phrase, “We can’t afford that.”
The days of most students working their way through a four-year college is a distant memory, because the pricetag is simply too high. Nonetheless, 78 percent of them still hold jobs while they’re enrolled, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Upon graduating, instead of immediately saving for the American dream of a house and a car, they must first focus on paying off their student-loan debt. Maybe that humbling experience will prepare their generation to handle mortgages, auto purchases and credit cards more wisely than their predecessors. They’ll develop patience sooner.
As overwhelming as the debt predicament seems, the Class of 2012 did the right thing by persevering. Eventually, it will be rewarded for completing its education. Seven of the 10 fastest-growing jobs in the United States require a bachelor’s degree or higher, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unemployment rates are lower for college grads overall, and their average annual incomes are higher.
Most crucial, they chose to continue learning. That knowledge will be their asset, even as they enter an economy that is gradually healing from a mess those young people did not create. That entry into the “real world” may include an initiation filled with ominous predictions, but this fresh crop of grads will have many more legitimate reasons to celebrate this weekend. They stuck it out through some of the toughest times in decades.
We should be thanking them.
Mark Bennett can be reached at (812) 231-4377 or mark.bennett@tribstar.com.
News Columns
Related Photos
-
Tribune-Star columnist Mark Bennett
Discussion
MARK BENNETT: Despite challenges, 2012 grads have youth, tenacity on their side
- News Columns
-
-
MIKE LUNSFORD: Remembering Mom a day after Mother’s Day
I don’t think there has been a day in the last eight years that I haven’t thought of my mom. Being all grown up with wrinkles to call my own doesn’t make me miss my parents any less.
-
MARK BENNETT: After running for 28 hours straight, what’s another 5 miles?
Some phrases can only be uttered by a few people, or none at all.
-
MARK BENNETT: Glitches show limitations of high-stakes testing concept
The dog ate my homework. That age-old excuse — based on a shockingly unforeseen complication — rarely works for a kid who didn’t finish yesterday’s math assignment. Yet, in a role reversal, Indiana school children, along with their teachers and administrators, are left to accept an explanation for a disruption best described as the mother of all ironies.
-
MARK BENNETT: One step at a time to save lives
Joan Brown.
Remember that name. -
MARK BENNETT: Sometimes, the mere posing of questions is significant
The era seems quaint now, almost like a fable. When people left their house doors unlocked. When the sight of a police officer in a school meant it was Career Day.
-
MIKE LUNSFORD: ‘Dowsers’ provide hope more than science
My grandfather was a man of God. Many times I saw him, his right hand held high in the air at his Wednesday night “prayer meeting,” praising the Lord before weeping at the altar on his knees. And yet, he was a “dowser,” a “diviner,” a “witcher” who, as a favor, would grab a forked sassafras stick and find water for some poor unfortunate whose well had gone dry.
-
MARK BENNETT: New reality steers Nashville singer to Crossroads for Historical Society concert
People pass through the Crossroads of America for lots of reasons.
Business trips. College campus events. Federal prison sentences. Visits with relatives. Gas pitstops.
Or maybe a career change and a twist of fate.
Ty Brown makes his first stop in downtown Terre Haute as the headliner of a multi-band Sweet Sensations Country Jam concert May 4 in the Ohio Building — a fundraiser for the Vigo County Historical Society. -
HAYDEN: 9-year-old lobbyist weighs in on school safety
Senate Bill 1 shot to the forefront last week, after it was amended by the House education committee with a provision that mandates every public school in Indiana would be required to have someone on staff armed with a loaded gun during school hours.
-
HAYDEN: Republican shift proving to be real
When a federal judge struck down key provisions of the state’s immigration law last week, it seemed anticlimactic.
-
LUNSFORD: A different kind of resurrection story, no foolin’
If you’ve had pets in your family long enough, it’s likely that you’ll see a miracle or two — a dog that couldn’t possibly have lived, but did; a cat that grew to 20 pounds after being born the runt of the litter; a goldfish that had been belly-up too many times to believe it could have survived another day.
-
STATE OF THE STATEHOUSE: Americans of Hispanic heritage becoming active in Republican party
When Republicans in the Indiana General Assembly decided earlier this year to put off a vote on locking the state’s same-sex marriage ban into the state constitution, it sent a signal that GOP leaders were evolving on the issue of marriage equality.
-
MARK BENNETT: Terre Haute barber ‘sharpens up’ customers for 50 years
People streamed through this section of downtown Terre Haute in those days.
“You could hardly walk by here,” John Hochhalter said, pointing toward the sidewalk outside the window.
The bustle has faded since the early 1960s. Hochhalter remains. He’s still barbering in the same shop he and late business partner Kenny Thomas opened a half-century ago this week. -
MIKE LUNSFORD: As of today, it’s unofficially spring
Despite the calendar telling us not to rush things, I think it is all right to go ahead and say spring is here. The Ides of March has passed, Easter is coming soon, and I have already been out in my yard with a rake, getting my boots muddy. It looks like spring to me.
-
Americans for Prosperity aim to browbeat GOP lawmakers
If you're outside the Indianapolis TV market, you may not have seen yet the Americans for Prosperity ad that demonizes the House Republicans for resisting Republican Gov. Mike Pence's tax cut plan.
-
MAUREEN HAYDEN: Pence may find himself in a mess if he gets what he wants
Here’s a story to consider: A Republican governor with ties to the tea party and possible presidential ambitions decides he wants to slash the state’s income tax rate, but meets with massive resistance from legislative leaders from his own party.
Sounds like the scenario playing out in the Indiana Statehouse, right? -
MARK BENNETT: Reflections of grid success stir with Brent Anderson’s passing
A few hundred miles away, and nearly 40 years gone by, a special game ball still occupies a fond place in Rudy Bohinc’s memories.
-
MIKE LUNSFORD: If handwriting is a window to my soul, I’m glad this is typewritten…
Somewhere in the mess I call my “archives,” I have most of my grade school report cards hidden away. I have kept them under wraps, because I want to be long gone when my children — or grandchildren — unearth them and discover that their self-righteous teacher of a dad was, in fact, a terrible student in his formative years.
-
MAUREEN HAYDEN: Are legislators gambling with the future of gaming?
Indiana lawmakers have been debating whether to give the state’s casinos more financial incentives to compete with the shiny new gambling palaces popping up in Ohio.
-
MARK BENNETT: Never truer: Knowledge vital to narrowing ‘skills gap’
The pillar at the gates of Faber College in the movie “Animal House” bore a wise motto, despite its tongue-in-cheek intent …
-
STATE OF THE STATEHOUSE: Pot decriminalization bill dead, but reduced-punishment aspect still alive
In the flurry of activity at the Statehouse in recent weeks, I missed reporting some sad news for stoners: The legislation to decriminalize marijuana is dead.
-
MARK BENNETT: Great-niece to re-enact Paul Dresser’s musical legacy in Terre Haute show
People can be forgotten. Their lives end, time passes and memories fade.
Often, the only keepers of their legacies are family and friends, who tell and retell their stories, generation to generation.
For Paul Dresser, his fame burned strong enough as a turn-of-the-century, million-seller songwriter to preserve bits of his public notoriety. -
MIKE LUNSFORD: The ‘lovely gift’ of a beech tree …
This is not the season that I usually write of trees, for besides a few pin oaks that hang on to the most stubborn of leaves, my woods stand bare and dormant and cold right now. My trees are patiently awaiting the green of spring that I feel, for some reason, is to arrive a little earlier this year than is usual.
-
STATE OF THE STATEHOUSE: What to do with that $2 billion sitting around
We Hoosiers like to think of ourselves as special, but when it comes to the current debate in the Indiana Statehouse over the budget, we’re a lot like other states: Grappling with some post-recession questions about how to balance spending and taxes.
-
MARK BENNETT: An Olympic takedown
Imagine an iconic image of American sports history erased.
-
STATE OF THE STATEHOUSE: Pence sticks to his ‘Roadmap’
As a U.S. congressman, Mike Pence made it perfectly clear how he felt about the need for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
-
MARK BENNETT: Indiana’s ‘skills gap’
A problem lasting decades ceases to be a “problem.” By then, the situation becomes “part of the culture.”
-
MIKE LUNSFORD: Twain’s Sawyer helps us yearn for ‘wilderness of childhood’
My cousin, Roger, stopped in one day last summer for a glass of tea and a little conversation. Rog has lived an hour’s drive away for years and now, and besides summer reunions, I don’t see him nearly often enough. He’s a good man who has raised a good family, and he owns a healthy sense of appreciation for not only the life he has now, but also the lives we had years ago as kids.
-
STATE OF THE STATEHOUSE:Supreme Court providing convenient cover for GOP
If GOP leaders in the Indiana General Assembly announce this week, as expected, that they’re postponing a vote on a constitutional ban on same-sex marriages and civil unions, you can expect them to cite the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to step into the larger issue later this year as the primary reason.
-
MARK BENNETT: America’s best quality of life? Indiana must address flaws, set priorities
Just as the job interview seems smooth, the interviewer drops the question.
“So, where do you see yourself in five years?” -
MARK BENNETT: Pondering what is meant by ‘quality of life’ to Hoosiers
Sometimes it’s sincere. Other times, it’s sarcasm.
You cross paths with a friend, ask how they’re doing, and they say, “Ah, just livin’ the dream.”
Livin’ the dream. What exactly does that involve? Can it be defined? - More News Columns Headlines
-
MIKE LUNSFORD: Remembering Mom a day after Mother’s Day
NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor
Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool
Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids
Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge
Raw: Germany Protestors Picket Barbie House
China, Others Want What's Under the Arctic Ice
Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics
Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction
Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday
Raw: Suicide Bomber Kills 2 Americans, 13 Others
One Million Evacuated As Cyclone Hits Bangladesh
Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot
Raw: Pope Frees Doves From Cage
Raw: 6 Die in Russian Ship Fire
CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools
Raw: Texas Gov. Flies Over Tornado Damage
Music Therapy Bonds Parents and Preemies
Officials Arrest Man in Idaho in Terrorism Case
Horse Saved From Slaughter, Goes on to Win Big
Brothers Arrested in NOLA Parade Shooting
Coffee Stop Leads To Arrest Of YouTube Sensation Wanted For Murder
Bearded Dragon Reunited With Owner
Marine Reunited with Warzone Companion
Beyonce Is Pregnant!
SF baseball player overpaid $500,000 RETURNS money -- and team says KEEP IT
$1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest
Dad returns from Afghanistan, surprises family during Rays' first pitch
See Jennifer Lopez's New $10m Hamptons Mansion
Woman tricked into taking abortion pill
Emma Watson Goes Pantless
IRS scandal: Republicans seek to tie Obama to agency's woes
Play of the Day: Flipping to Safety
Pregnant Kim Kardashian Squeezes Her Swollen Feet Into Stilettos
Top Videos of the Week: Angry Taco Bell Guy, Glacier Moves on House, Dog Hates Baths
Cindy Crawford Stuns At Cannes
Raw: Marines Come to Obama's Aid in the Rain
CUTE: Monkey shares lollipop with dog, then HITS pooch on head with it
Miranda Kerr Looks Sexy in a Bikini Photo Shoot
Hatchet-wielding viral video star, once a hero, now a murder suspect
