Graduating U.S. college seniors entering grim market

By Andrew Stern

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A college diploma has long been the ticket to a good job, but the deepest economic slump in decades has dampened the dreams of many U.S. college seniors.

They face a hard reality upon graduation this spring: stiff competition from the growing ranks of the unemployed, from those forced out of retirement or delaying it because of the collapsing stock market, and from graduates of past years who are still searching for jobs in their chosen field.

"You're graduating into this world and being thrown out of the college bubble and you're supposed to be able to get a job, which just doesn't exist," said Andrew Heber, 24, of Chicago, who graduated from New College in Florida in 2007.

The U.S. Census Bureau says 1.6 million college degrees will be awarded this year, a figure that has climbed steadily. Many depart school with expectations of making it on their own and with hopes of repaying student loans that average $22,500.

For seniors like Amanda Haimes at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, the drumbeat of bad news about the weak job market is worrying, even scary.

"People are saying this is the worst year to graduate, ever," she said in a telephone interview.

Haimes, 22, plans to move back home with her parents in Atlanta and will make $3,000 this summer as a political party canvasser. "After that, I'm not 100 percent positive" of her future, the sociology major said.

LOSING COVERAGE

Many seniors like Haimes face the added worry of losing health insurance coverage for the first time in their lives. Some 20 U.S. states have passed laws mandating that adult children can get coverage under their parents' health insurance plans until they reach their mid-20s, but usually must remain unmarried dependents.

Some see few options other than living at home.

Confronted by a prolonged recession and a rising 8.5 percent unemployment rate, the highest U.S. rate in a quarter-century, some college seniors have grown "so anxious and worried they are paralyzed" and are not looking for a job, said University of Wisconsin, Madison, career services director Leslie Kohlberg.

Kohlberg and other college counselors said there are jobs to be had, but stamina is needed for the search.

What needs to happen -- and will, according to college job counselors -- is for students to migrate from training in sectors that are losing jobs like finance to fields gaining jobs like health care, education, engineering, and computer technology.

Still, there is desperation in the air, based on anecdotal comments from counselors, students and recruiters.

Wall Street recruiter Kurt Kraeger said he had to take down an online advertisement for three internships when he was flooded by 200 resumes. Other employers tell him of overqualified graduates appealing for any job they can get.