As college students continue to grapple with the rising costs of higher education, more graduates are beginning to feel their college education didn’t adequately prepare them for their chosen career path, according to a new college and career planning survey by Employment BOOST, a full-service resume writing, corporate outplacement, and career services company, which surveyed over 400 people spanning the entire US with heavier weighting placed on the major metropolitan centers.
“As the cost of higher education continues to rise, graduates are increasingly wondering if their investment is worth the cost,” said Ryan Miller, Career Services Executive at Employment BOOST. “In addition to college tuition and return-on-investment concerns, many graduates increasingly feel like they weren’t given the necessary technical skills or knowledge needed to succeed in the professional world.”
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According to the survey, more than half of the respondents wished for better guidance when choosing a college major and career, and better guidance in making career choices, highlighting a desire for greater access to academic and career planning services.
While 63% of those surveyed agree that college was a good investment as it relates to potentially higher earnings, only about half of the same respondents felt like they were maximizing their earnings potential over the course of their careers, and those negative feelings only increased with age. In a broader sense, an investment in a college degree provides immediate positive sentiment around earnings power, but over the course of a professional career, that sentiment loses momentum.
“As professionals across the job sector reflect on their educations, it’s clear there’s a growing belief that the institutions where graduates are spending sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars aren’t providing the tools for them to realize a return on their investment,” said Miller. “This begs the question as to whether colleges and universities today are equipped to shape the workforce of tomorrow.”
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