The Education-Economy Cycle

The main reason people attend college is to be able to get a better job when they graduate. Unfortunately, the economy is suffering and the job market is sparse. College graduates have not only become a large demographic of bankruptcy filers, but are also having a harder time than ever finding work. So what does this mean for the economy?

Cause And Effect

The economy effects jobs and, in turn, jobs effect the economy; which then leads us to the idea that education is a major part of both of those.  If the job market is good, college graduates have an easier time finding work. More job availability increases the demand for education, especially higher education like graduate school. Higher demand for education improves the profitability of Universities through higher enrollment and increased tuition. More money into industries like higher education results in a boost to the economy. A good economy is synonymous with a good a job market, bringing with it even  more job opportunities and another increase in the demand for education.

So where are we in this economy?

It is no secret the economy is suffering and so is the job market. With the economy and job market in its current state, the demand for education lacking. In the past, graduate school enrollment increased during tough economic times as many preferred the continuation of education rather than engage in the battle for very few available job positions.

Surprisingly, college enrollment has maintained a neutral pace during this economy and not decreased as many would have expected.  Similar to the strategy being used by others in this economy, students are simply trying to “wait it out and see”. Even though the historically observed increase has not been seen, the fact that enrollment has not dropped is a vote of confidence that consumers are somewhat confident the economy will recover sometime soon.