For the graduates from MSU of 2011, 85 percent either were employed after graduation or decided to continue their education.

Alumna Becca MacLennan said she had some difficulty finding a job after she graduated in 2008, and there might be more competition because of the trend.

“I think it is still fairly hard to get a job,” she said. “Maybe since things are already competitive, that it’ll increase the competition if there (are) more qualified individuals trying to get jobs.”

MacLennan said she considered going to graduate school to help increase the chances of getting a good job, but decided it wasn’t the best decision for her.

“I was interested in other careers and fields to study and learn about,” she said. “I wasn’t convinced with what I wanted to do, so it wasn’t worth my time and money.”

MSU ranked fourth in the Big Ten with 73.3 percent of students receiving a bachelor’s degree in the 2010-11 school year.

Linda Gross, associate director for MSU’s Career Services Network, said it doesn’t depend so much on attaining the degree, but what the student does when they graduate.

“It’s what you take away from that matters most — how you learned from those experiences,” she said.

Economics professor Charles Ballard said the benefits of people graduating with bachelor’s degrees has proved to be more valuable in finding employment in the job market.

“Those with post-high school eduction have done so much better (finding jobs),” he said.

“So word has gotten around with the financial advantages of having more education. That would translate into more people seeking to further their education.”

With Pew data showing about a third of young adults are graduating with bachelor’s degrees, it might become a necessity for students to attain a bachelor’s before going into the work force.

Chemistry senior Robert Morelli said more people are graduating with bachelor’s degrees because they think a degree will boost their job prospects in the face of a bad economy.

“With the economy tanking the way it has, there’s no more low-skilled jobs,” he said.

“So everyone has to keep going to college if they even want the lowest of waged jobs anymore.”
Morelli said, in the face of more skilled workers in the general public, it’s definitely going to be harder finding a job.

“As the skill goes up, you have to be more skilled to counteract it,” he said. “So it’s a little scary.”