College Graduates: May the Workforce be With You.

This spring, over one million college students nationwide will don a cap and gown and be conferred a bachelor’s degree. Of this group, most who seek full-time employment will be successful, according to Employment Policy Foundation analysis.

Part of the success of graduates is a result of correctly matching their fields of study to the economy’s fastest-growing occupations in the labor market. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, between 1995 and 2000, the largest increase in full-time jobs for bachelor degree holders aged 30 and under was in the computer and information sciences field. In response to this demand, computer and information sciences has become the fastest-growing college major, according to Department of Education figures.

Computer systems analysts and programmers also experienced the greatest increase in absolute earnings during the same time period – from $37,655 in 1995 to $50,041 in 2000. This trend of choosing college majors based on strong earnings growth is mirrored in fields other than the computer sciences. Other top-ranking earnings growth jobs were: managers and administrators, miscellaneous management positions, accounting and finance, and mechanics and repairers. Reflecting that in the classroom, business majors experienced the highest rates of absolute growth.

Since 1970, some majors have declined in the number of degrees awarded, including: education, social sciences and history, English language and literature, foreign language and literature, physical sciences, library sciences, philosophy and religion. In percentage terms, majors in library science, mathematics and education exhibited the sharpest rates of decline. In the workforce, employment for college graduates declined in construction, manufacturing and mechanized production, service workers and office support and clerical occupations. These occupations have traditionally attracted only a minority of college graduates, and the decline in number of degree holders in these jobs is an indication of more attractive and better paying opportunities in other fields as a value of the bachelor’s degree.

Although the number may appear large, the one million college graduates this year are a dedicated few. Only 45.1 percent of those who ever enroll in college actually complete their degree, according to BLS data.

For more information at http://www.epf.org