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Half of College Grads Under 25 are Unemployed or Underemployed

Recent projections have job prospects improving for 2012's college graduates. But there's a lot more room for improvement than we're likely to see:

About 1.5 million, or 53.6 percent, of bachelor's degree-holders under the age of 25 last year were jobless or underemployed, the highest share in at least 11 years. In 2000, the share was at a low of 41 percent, before the dot-com bust erased job gains for college graduates in the telecommunications and IT fields.

The value of a college degree is a middle-class article of faith. But exclusive new research suggests it may be far less than previously thought.

If you have (or are currently attending college in pursuit of) an engineering, law, computer science, medical or any other kind of degree that qualifies you to do something with a tangible effect on the world, this is not the column for you. You're not going to get anything out of it. Well, maybe some well-earned Schadenfreude at the expense of all the little grasshoppers who didn't till for winter, but aren't you above all that? Why don't you go somewhere and understand some math, asshole.

This graduation season, some experts challenge whether four-year degree is path to success.

The notion that a four-year degree is essential for real success is being challenged by a growing number of economists, policy analysts and academics. They say more Americans should consider other options such as technical training or two-year schools, which have been embraced in Europe for decades.

The Board of Directors at Goshen College, a private, pacifistic liberal arts college in Indiana, asked President James E. Brenneman to find an alternative to playing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at sporting events.

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Imagine a retirement where you could have an extra $1million to $3 million in the bank with basically no effort. Now imagine telling your kids that you aren't going to send them to college. And, you go on, you want them to immediately start a business or get to work as soon as they finish high school.

Debt is scaring some South Florida students: More are saying "no thanks" to taking out college loans.

Broward College, in fact, is seeing a 40 percent drop in federally subsidized loans taken out this fall – after students go through a mandatory debt management workshop and hear about what faces them once they start making payments.

How much is grad school? Too much my brothers and sisters, too much- I think even the die-hard grad school nerds and I are on the same page with this one. Often the cost of the tuition is more than the salary increase a grad student could possibly get from their new degree, even over time.