For four long years, Fayetteville State University students are active on campus. They vote in student elections, cheer on their home team at sporting events, cash refund checks, murmur at how bad financial aid is, and lastly, complain at how FSU campus police issue tickets to cars with parking permits. FSU students do this year after year until they receive their official letter for senior commencement photos in the mail from Jostens. Students anxiously blush with excitement because the end is near. The excitement this day brings is shared by all college students. However, after awhile anxiety and maybe fear sets in because now, the job hunt begins.
College graduates are no longer using their degrees to gain employment. Liberal Arts majors are waiting tables at restaurants, business majors are answering phones at law offices while education majors are bagging groceries. Of course, there is nothing wrong with these jobs, they are just not what the average college graduate expects to have once they turn the tassel on graduation day.
The problem is a lot of college graduates are not finding jobs after graduation.
A 2011 study conducted by the Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University, revealed that 44 percent of 2010 college graduates from four year universities were unemployed. There are several reasons for this. The most common is the economic recession.
The United States Department of Labor reported that the unemployment rate is at 10.5 percent in Cumberland County. This percentage converts to 14,488 people being unemployed in Cumberland County alone. The weekly wage for Cumberland County employees is $700-$799, compared to the national wage average of $971 (U.S. Department of Labor).
With unemployment increasing and wages decreasing, college graduates are taking matters into their own hands to secure their future. Instead of continuing to conform to a "resume-driven society," college graduates are embracing the spirit of entrepreneurship and starting their own companies and businesses.
The average college student takes a total of 15 academic credit hours a semester, which totals to 30 credit hours each academic year. College is extremely demanding, but it is also considered one of the best times to start a business. Why?
Flexibility: College is not like your regular 9-5 job. You don't have to clock out or accumulate leave time in order to take a vacation. Instead, students have the power to schedule classes when they want them. With this type of flexibility students have ample time to begin planning a business.
Free guidance: College students are in the presence of expert professors for at least four years. These professors are eager to see their students excel so they are willing to offer free advice to students with questions about embarking into a particular field.
Few commitments: Not all college students have the commitments of being a parent or spouse in college, so many students have unlimited freedom.
Financial freedom: A lot of college students do not have the burdens of paying a monthly mortgage or footing a grocery bill for a family of five. This allows students to employ on their ideas, while resting securely in the fact that they will have a dorm room to return to.
With unemployment rates still rising and Sallie Mae mailing payment letters six months after graduation, college students are taking their lives and financial security into their own hands by paving their own way. FSU students are encouraged to embrace this trend. The School of Business and Economics host a Center for Entrepreneurship with professors willing to answer questions about breaking into business.
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