College degree no longer guarantees post-grad employment

[Elderberry]

American Military News by Emma Nelson -The Minnesota Star Tribune June 18, 2025

Hope Anderson tracks her job search in a spreadsheet, highlighting the rejections in red.

After more than six months and 40-plus applications, she’s seeing nothing but red.

“I knew it was going to be hard, and I knew it was going to be a lot of work,” said the 21-year-old Eden Prairie, Minnesota, resident, who graduated from Iowa State University in May with an event-management degree. “But I didn’t think that I would have absolutely nothing after months.”

A growing group of young, college-educated Americans are struggling to find work as the unemployment rate for recent graduates outpaces overall unemployment for the first time in decades.

While the national unemployment rate has hovered around 4% for months, the rate for 20-something degree holders is nearly 6%, data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows. The amount of time young workers report being unemployed is also on the rise.

Economists attribute some of the shift to normal post-pandemic cooling of labor market, which is making it harder for job-seekers of all ages to land a gig. But there’s also widespread economic uncertainty causing employers to pull back on hiring and signs AI could replace entry-level positions.

Employers added 139,000 jobs in May with unemployment unchanged at 4.2%, according to data the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released last week.

But the report “points to an economy and employment that is weakening somewhat and gives some cause for continued concern over the direction of stagflation,” said David Royal, chief financial and investment officer at Thrivent Financial, in a statement.

More: https://americanmilitarynews.com/2025/06/college-degree-no-longer-guarantees-post-grad-employment/

[andy58-in-nh]

...an event-management degree...

And there's your problem, right there.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

There never was a 'guarantee' of anything.

That is not how life works.

God never promised our lives would be easy after the fall.

[GtHawk]

...an event-management degree...

And there's your problem, right there.

Poor little BooBoo needs to go back to school and learn some marketable skills, but hey with all the illegals getting deported there should be many fine opportunities opening up in the QSR industry.🤔 Event planning, hey I know she could apply to MickeyD’s or Chucky Cheese🐀 as a kids birthday party planner, now that she sounds qualified for.

[Wingnut]

...an event-management degree...

And there's your problem, right there.

Yo Fish, Remember back when we were in college we call those Majors "Basket Weaving" degrees.

[DB]

Yo Fish, Remember back when we were in college we call those Majors "Basket Weaving" degrees.

We called them "Underwater Basket Weaving" degrees...

[The_Reader_David]

Perhaps if one has a degree in event management, one should move to a place where there is a lot of event management happening, rather than living in Eden Prairie, MN.  Las Vegas and large coastal cities strike me as places where such a degree might be looked on favorably.  Either that of go the entrepreneur route and start an events-management business.

[LMAO]

What employment opportunities would be out there for someone who graduates with an event management degree?

The university takes her money, gives her an unmarketable degree, but she gets the massive debt when she’s just starting out in life

[andy58-in-nh]

Yo Fish, Remember back when we were in college we call those Majors "Basket Weaving" degrees.

No degree required... and at the end of the day, you've got a product to sell.

[Canuck Conservative]

...an event-management degree...

And there's your problem, right there

Well yeah, if he still lives in Eden Prairie, MN, there's probably not a lot of "events" that need managing

However, it's probably a different story in New York, LA, or even Las Vegas ...

[Smokin Joe]

Go back to the school they got the degree from, and organize a protest against worthless degrees that do not lead to employment.

(Build that resume.)

[roamer_1]

...an event-management degree...

And there's your problem, right there.

Yeah... She probably should have combined it with a minor in Lesbian Dance Theory... Then she'd have something. 

[DB]

Go back to the school they got the degree from, and organize a protest against worthless degrees that do not lead to employment.

(Build that resume.)

Just wait until they offer degrees in professional protesting... They're most of the way there already...

[jafo2010]

Elderberry post of Hope Anderson...

After more than six months and 40-plus applications, she’s seeing nothing but red.

“I knew it was going to be hard, and I knew it was going to be a lot of work,”

Let's start with the UGLY TRUTH.  Hope, you are a lazy slug.  Extremely lazy.  40 apps in 6 months works out to 1.5 apps sent per week.  Are you kidding me?  Get off your dead *ss and send 50 a week minimum(100 per week would be better).  If you actually worked to get a job, you might just do so.  Working as hard as you are, years could readily go by.  IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!


Further, we know that not only you  but most graduating from college know less than people did graduating from high school 50 years ago.  Education has become a joke in the USA, and not just for those studying gender studies, but for all disciplines, with but a few exceptions.  We are creating idiots with a sheepskin.  And that includes all universities, including the likes of Harvard.

[Bigun]

Let's start with the UGLY TRUTH.  Hope, you are a lazy slug.  Extremely lazy.  40 apps in 6 months works out to 1.5 apps sent per week.  Are you kidding me?  Get off your dead *ss and send 50 a week minimum(100 per week would be better).  If you actually worked to get a job, you might just do so.  Working as hard as you are, years could readily go by.  IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!


Further, we know that not only you  but most graduating from college know less than people did graduating from high school 50 years ago.  Education has become a joke in the USA, and not just for those studying gender studies, but for all disciplines, with but a few exceptions.  We are creating idiots with a sheepskin.  And that includes all universities, including the likes of Harvard.

  

[Bigun]

Colleges of Education represent the slums of any university.

Dr. Walter Williams

[Cyber Liberty]

Dr. Walter Williams

Journalism runs a close second.

[DefiantMassRINO]

Does Eden Prairie, Minnesota need an event manager?  Are there that many events in need of a manager?

Any college degree program worth its salt with have a co-op program with employers.  The students get real world experience, a job reference, and maybe even a job.

My place of employment PAYS co-ops/interns $25/hour.  That's better than flipping burgers for the Summer.

Back in the day, I interned for FREE to get the experience, job reference, and eventually the job.

Once in the workforce, I had to unlearn the crap the college filled my head with and learn the important stuff they didn't teach me.

The great thing about adjunct professors in night school, they have real day jobs and tell you what's not written in the books.

[Bigun]

Does Eden Prairie, Minnesota need an event manager?  Are there that many events in need of a manager?

Any college degree program worth its salt with have a co-op program with employers.  The students get real world experience, a job reference, and maybe even a job.

My place of employment PAYS co-ops/interns $25/hour.  That's better than flipping burgers for the Summer.

Back in the day, I interned for FREE to get the experience, job reference, and eventually the job.

Once in the workforce, I had to unlearn the crap the college filled my head with and learn the important stuff they didn't teach me.

The great thing about adjunct professors in night school, they have real day jobs and tell you what's not written in the books.

 

[Bigun]

Journalism runs a close second.

I wouldn't question that for a second. Radio, TV, and Film ain't far behind.

[Fishrrman]

Hope, go back to school.
This time, study nursing.
Before you finish, I'll reckon folks will be contacting YOU to offer employment...

[jmyrlefuller]

What employment opportunities would be out there for someone who graduates with an event management degree?

The university takes her money, gives her an unmarketable degree, but she gets the massive debt when she’s just starting out in life

People who organize events. It's probably seasonal employment, but at least it seems like there could, at least in theory, be some money to be made in that field.

[jmyrlefuller]

Let's start with the UGLY TRUTH.  Hope, you are a lazy slug.  Extremely lazy.  40 apps in 6 months works out to 1.5 apps sent per week.  Are you kidding me?  Get off your dead *ss and send 50 a week minimum(100 per week would be better).  If you actually worked to get a job, you might just do so.  Working as hard as you are, years could readily go by.  IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!

Bold of you to assume there are that many job openings in any given area, or that there are that many job openings outside that area that would be willing to even consider someone with her qualifications.

100 per week? Where in the country are that many openings? When I was looking for jobs in meteorology I would've been lucky to find 100 openings in a YEAR that I met the requirements.

I mean, sure, if you're talking menial grunt work, maybe you could use a blunt-force strategy like that, but most career jobs are not that plentiful.