JONESBORO, AR (KAIT) - A recent
study by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity revealed that nearly half of Americans with college degrees are in
jobs that they are overqualified to hold.
According to the study, 25% of retail sales clerks had a bachelor's
degree as well as 15% of taxi drivers and 5% of janitors.
The study said this trend is likely
to continue over the next decade. The number of Americans whose highest degree
was a bachelors grew to 25% from 2002 to 2012 according to the US Census. Freshman Daniel Golaway at Arkansas State University says it really
depends on the major.
"I'm in the computer science field,"
Golaway said. "And to not have a college degree is a death sentence. If
you don't have a college degree in a computer science area you can't really get
a job at all."
Golaway said there are some fields of study
where there is a loss if you have a college degree. But he said he'd rather run
the risk of being overqualified then being under qualified.
Dr. Market Quarles, director
of the career management center at ASU,says there are other reasons why
students may not get the job they want.
"There are a lot of
factors that contribute to why people choose the jobs that they do,
"Quarles said. "Typically it's not necessarily a function of how
qualified they are but choices for instance their family situation and how
close proximity they are going to be to their family."
Quarles says although the job
market is still recovering from the recession, there are certain job sectors
like healthcare, and education that are growing faster than others.
Veronica Smith speaks with more
students at ASU to see if they think it's worth it to get a college degree. She
also talks more with Dr.Quarles on how he advises students who may want to get
a master's degree tonight on Region 8 News.
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