How much money will you make after you graduate from college? Will it be enough to pay off that student loan and the money you borrowed from your parents?

The consulting firm Accenture asked similar questions in on online survey to students who graduated in 2011 and 2012 and those expected to graduate in 2013.

One key finding of the study is that only 15 percent of 2013 college graduates expected to earn less than $25,000 per year, while 32 percent of 2011 and 2012 graduates reported that their current salary was at $25,000 or less.

Careers aren’t like they used to be when individuals would find a job and stay there for 30 or 40 years, said Ginger Lange, associate director at Grand Valley State University’s Career Services.

“Whenever there is a tight job market, realistically people need to understand that you start where you start,” Lange said. “It’s not uncommon for people to start at a place they didn’t really want to.”

According to the 2010-2011 Postgraduate Employment Report conducted by Career Services at GVSU, 77.4 percent of graduated Lakers were employed, with 13.9 percent of those also attending graduate school.

Of those employed, 86.1 percent claimed their college degree contributed to gaining employment.
According to Accenture’s survey of 2011-2012 graduates, 84 percent were employed either part-time or full-time, and only 43 percent reported that their current jobs required their degree.

“It’s a question of being realistic about the market we’re in,” Lange said. “The good news is I think that it’s getting better.”

Finding that first job after graduation can take time too. Accenture’s study shows 64 percent of the 2013 graduates expecting to find a job within one to six months after commencement, but only 42 percent of 2011-2012 graduates found employment within that time frame.

Lange said she has heard for every $10,000 in salary, expect four to six weeks spent job-searching. That means that for a $40,000 salary, expect a six-month job hunt, she said.

“Our recommendation is that career development is an ongoing process that starts when you’re a freshman,” she said, noting that there are specific steps that can be taken to build a resume and develop good networks. “A lot of that work can be done on an individual basis at the Career Center.”

GVSU offers a number of ways to help students with developing a strong career path. In addition to organizing job fairs, help with resumes, interviewing skills, and finding jobs and internships, Career Services also provide self-assessment and career investigation programs.

These programs involve a series of inventories that help people hone-in on their interests, values and personality traits that might play into making a good career decision, Lange said.

“I would say to somebody who really wants to prepare themselves, the services are there,” she said.

Borrowed money

For many people higher education also comes with student loans. According to GVSU’s Accountability Report, the university’s student loan default rate for the 2010 fiscal year was 2.7 percent.

Michelle Rhodes, director of Financial Aid at GVSU, said that means 2.7 percent of people who borrowed loans and were supposed to begin paying it back didn’t make payments. Michigan’s state average for the same year was 4.6 percent.

According to Accenture’s study, about 30 percent of 2013 graduates and 34 percent of 2011 and 2012 graduates have $30,000 or less in student loans.

The average loan amount was just under $25,000 for students who started at GVSU and received a bachelor’s degree between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012.

However, that average only considers those students with loans.

“At Grand Valley there’s quite a large percent of the population that graduate with no debt,” Rhodes said.

When looking at the average amount for all graduates within that same time frame, including those who did not borrow, it drops to $18,000.

Rhodes said GVSU’s numbers are typically less than that reported in the study, but students still need to know how to handle their finances.

“One of the things that we find in financial aid is students don’t always know how much money they’ve taken out, or how to budget their repayment,” she said.

To help students deal with their money, GVSU has a program called Money Smart Lakers, which tries to help students make smart choices about their finances, Rhodes said.

To view Accenture’s study, visit www.accenture.com/us-en/Pages/insight-2013-accenture-college-graduate-employment-survey.aspx

For more information on Financial Aid, visit www.gvsu.edu/financialaid.
For more information on Career Services, visit www.gvsu.edu/careers.
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