Carnevale, A. P., Cheah, B., & Strohl, J. Hard times, college majors, unemployment and earnings: Not all college degrees are created equal. The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, Washington, DC, 2011. Pages: 20.

In January, the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce published a new report aiming to contribute to the analysis of unemployment among recent college graduates in the United States. The report draws on data from the American Community Survey for the years 2009 and 2010. The unemployment rates and median earnings are calculated for three groups: recent college graduates (those between ages 22 and 26 with bachelor degrees), experienced college graduates (those between ages 30 and 54) and graduate degree holders (those with master’s degrees or higher and between 30 and 54 years of age). Amongst other findings, the report highlights that: 

• choice of major substantially affects employment prospects and earnings; 
• people who make technology are better off than people who use technology; 
• majors that are linked to occupations tend to have better employment prospects than majors focused on general skills (however, some occupation-specific majors, such as architecture, were hurt by the recession); 
• pursuing a graduate degree may be the best option until the economy recovers, however, not all graduate degrees outperform all bachelor degree holders when it comes to employment.

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