In a time when student loan debt surpasses credit card debt and a state where public higher education costs more than a new fully loaded SUV, just about the only people who remain optimistic about the future are the professional counselors. Those about to walk across the stage in this weekend’s commencement ceremonies are nervous and just grateful they didn’t graduate at the peak of the recession in 2009.
After graduation, most UC–Santa Cruz graduates won’t stay in Santa Cruz. Blame it on Santa Cruz’s sky-high unemployment rate—a mind-numbing 14.7 percent—or the lack of opportunities for growth. April Goral, Career Adviser for Arts, Humanities and Education at UCSC, explains it this way: “Some alums remain since they have off-campus housing or want to surf; others give back through the work they pursue outside of Santa Cruz. Since Santa Cruz is a tourist town, professional jobs are difficult to find.”
Tiffany Loftin, the first in her family to graduate from college, majored in American Studies with a minor in Politics. She hopes the experience of serving at UCSC as Chair of the Student Union Association will give her an edge applying for a position as Field Coordinator at the NAACP; nonetheless, she anticipates moving back in with her mom in Los Angeles “to figure out what my next steps will be” after graduating. “We have to take pride in what we’ve achieved, and not be discouraged by what we’re facing,” she says. “It’s gonna be hard; there are no jobs out there whatsoever, but we have to remember to give back and make things better. Our parents are proud of us. I’m proud of all the graduating seniors. It’s been a really long, dramatic, exciting experience, but I wouldn’t take it back for anything.”
UCSC, known for its innovative approach to education, produces highly sought-after graduates, especially in the fields of engineering and business. Yet not even straight-A students from the class of 2011 expect to find career jobs.
Allison Chapple, a Health Sciences major, is emerging from UCSC with an expensive degree but without the hands-on experience to give her confidence in her field. Despite two years of work at Santa Cruz Biotechnology, she says she feels “completely unprepared to do anything with a bachelor’s, at least for biology.” She adds, “I feel like I have all this theoretical knowledge, but I haven’t really applied it. It’s frustrating to look at biology-related jobs without any actual hands-on experience. I know theoretically how everything is done, but I’ve never actually done it.”
An internship might be a good next step for Chapple, who eventually wants to be a doctor. Internships, according to Barbara Silverthorne, director of the UCSC Career Center, “are the new interview. Many companies are hiring interns with the intention of testing out the fit between the intern and the company and converting as many interns as possible to full-time employees. For the class of 2010, 58 percent of interns were converted to full-time hires.”
Better Than Last Year
Come fall, Art and Psychology major Chelsea Ware is moving to the Bay Area to dance professionally; she’s also looking for a job in teaching or art therapy. If she’s unable to find satisfactory employment in the cutthroat job market, she could always start her own business. Just because there aren’t many career jobs available doesn’t mean that there’s no hope for recent grads willing to take a risk, and there’s hardly been a better time to start a business. Consider the super-success story of Penny Ice Creamery, whose co-owner, Kendra Baker, graduated from UCSC in 2001 with a degree in Language Studies.
“Many students,” Silverthorne contends, “are influenced by pessimistic economic reports in the media. If they were to do some investigating, they would find that the outlook is not as bad as they think.”
Whether embarking on graduate studies, entering the job market or pursuing an alternative path, the most important asset for an ambitious college graduate, says Silverthorne, is “a positive attitude. The job outlook,” she says, “is better than it has been for the past two or three years.” Some statistics bear this out: hiring is up 19.5 percent for the graduating class of 2011 compared to 2010, according to he National Association of Colleges and Employers.
This generation may think it’s the first to face an uncertain future, but the economy has been through periods like this before. In 1983, when Silverthorne graduated, “The unemployment rate was similar. At that time I heard all the same predictions you are hearing now. Contrary to what you hear, companies are not necessarily hiring the more qualified candidates. As the economy rebounds, employers are interested in new college graduates because they do not command the high salaries of seasoned professionals, they contribute energy and new ideas and they are open to learning the company culture.”
Yet in 1983, higher education cost nowhere near as much as it does now, and graduates weren’t bearing the massive amounts of debt that today’s grads are. UCSC Financial Aid Director Ann Draper says that for the 2009-10 school year, 38 percent of all undergraduate UCSC students received student loans, and 53 percent of students who began UCSC as freshmen and graduated in 2010 took out loans to complete their undergraduate educations.
On average, students borrowed $15,888—$3,000 more than a year’s tuition ($12,732) for a full-time student who is a California resident. It’s not much, given the cost of living. “Somehow students are surviving without taking out all the loans they could,” Draper says.
Students are surviving because they have no other options. Many work throughout their undergraduate careers to pay for school or for their living expenses. Chapple’s job at Santa Cruz Biotechnology enables her to afford living in Santa Cruz, and Michael Geneau’s job in his field of Environmental Studies as a habitat restorationist at Younger Lagoon has kept him from having to take out loans.
According to Draper, it takes around 10 years to pay off the average loan of $15,900. A variety of loan repayment plans—including direct loan services, income-contingent repayment plans and loan forgiveness programs for careers in public service, the military or volunteering—creates a flexible time frame for repayment, and Draper insists that “it is still true in this country that the higher your level of education, the higher your earning power.”
Indeed, according to the U.S. Department of Labor statistics, college graduates earn on average $15,000 more annually than high school graduates. Nonetheless, this week’s graduates may question whether their UC educations were worth the high prices. If there’s one thing they agree on, it’s that they’re glad they’re finished with their degrees as UC tuition costs skyrocket. Says Chapple, “Honestly, I’m so glad I’m done now. I can’t imagine being a freshman right now.”
