Colleges need to do much more to help graduates get great jobs.

The single biggest change in higher education over the last decade doesn’t relate to rankings or even MOOCs, but rather the reason students enroll in the first place. According to New America, today’s students enroll for very practical reasons: to improve employment opportunities (91%); to make more money (90%); and to get a good job (89%). While studies continue to show terrific premiums for college educated workers, the data in question invariably come from cohorts that have been out of college at least 10, and often 20 or 30 years. Unprecedented unemployment + underemployment rates for new graduates produced by the Great Recession has changed student behavior – likely unalterably given the affordability crisis. As a result, traditional arguments that “college prepares you for your fifth job, not your first job” increasingly fall on deaf ears; students know that if they don’t get a great first job, they’re much less likely to get a great fifth job. This means colleges need to do more than just increase career services budgets; they must ensure students are equipped with the technical skills employers increasingly require for entry-level positions.