Well seniors, graduation is just two weeks away. So what exactly do we have to look forward to in life after ASU? To be perfectly blunt, a kick in the (butt).
For many, post-college life means a (gulp) job and a foray into the real world. No more sleeping until noon and heading out to that first class at 12:40 p.m. No more showing up hung-over let alone still drunk.
Oh, and don't forget the best part: paying back student loans. We all dream of being "professional students," living off the government and then dying before we have to pay back a couple of million bucks in loans, but in the backs of our minds we knew those creditors would come for their money as soon as we had our diplomas in hand. I wonder, how hard would it be to fake my own death?
Others may opt to go the graduate school route instead of testing the still-somewhat-shaky job market or repaying those pesky student loans. Grad school or law school probably won't be the relative cakewalk that getting a bachelor's degree at ASU was, however, as you can expect to do some actual work. It is still an excellent way to postpone reality for another two or more years, and make that resume a little more appealing.
Either way, life isn't going to be like it was as an ASU undergrad.
Let's start with the poor souls getting a real job. First some good news: Phoenix is one of the few job markets to post job gains since 2000 according to an American City Business Journals study released this month. The not-so-good news is this growth was a meager 38,300 jobs. Maricopa County typically sees population increases around 25,000 people per quarter, and many of them will ultimately end up competing for Valley jobs. In other words, our population growth is outpacing our job growth, and that's actually pretty bad news for those entering the job market for the first time.
The manufacturing industry has been on its deathbed for some time because of jobs moving overseas. Now we're seeing outsourcing with many white-collar jobs, and as you may remember from that cheery headline in The Arizona Republic on Sunday, the Phoenix area is particularly vulnerable. The Greater Phoenix Economic Council found 228,300 jobs that were apt to be relocated given the recent trends ranging from customer/tech support to business professionals like accountants and legal assistants.
If you're looking for work outside Phoenix or even Arizona, consider that two-thirds of all major job markets experienced a net loss in jobs over the last three years according to the ACBJ study.
In light of that gloomy picture, it is plain to see why grad school has become such an appealing option these days. The correlation between higher education and income is certainly no secret. In terms of lifetime earnings, the Census Bureau reported full-time workers with professional degrees come out with $4.4 million over a lifetime on average, more than twice the figure for those holding only a bachelor's degree. And with the job market as stagnant as it is, why not wait it out, borrow a little more money and make it back in the long run?
It turns out a lot of people are thinking the exact same thing. Nationwide, many professional programs are reporting a 20 percent or higher increase in applicants. More applicants mean more competition and higher selectivity (read: sending out more applications to cover your bases, and trust me, application fees aren't cheap).
Maybe it sounds worse than it really is. Sure, we're going to miss the lazy days here at ASU and knocking back $2 Coronas at Dos Gringos between classes. I know I'm certainly going to look back fondly when my biggest problem was fighting off a hangover to write this weekly column. But the real world can't be all that bad, right? However daunting post-college life may seem, we've always got our ASU diplomas to fall back on ...
Scott Phillips spent more than $500 on law school applications and still doesn't know where he's going next fall. Reach him at scott.phillips@asu.edu and read his blog online at asuwebdevil.com.
