How Do Recent College Grads Really Stack Up? Employment and Earnings for Graduates of the Great Recession

June 3, 2011 • Adam Looney, Michael Greenstone • Education, Employment & Wages

Today’s young adults are experiencing a job market that is vastly different than the one that existed when they first started college.  The Hamilton Project focused on the so-called “Class of the Great Recession” — young adults age 23-24 to explore whether they are better off in terms of both their employment prospects and earning potential than their peers who did not attend college. Analysis shows that young workers with a college degree are in much better shape than their peers who did not pursue post-secondary studies.  In fact, 88 percent of college graduates aged 23-24 were employed in 2010. Additionally, those with a degree are earning more money, with average weekly earnings of those with a college degree at $581, almost double the earnings of those with only a high school diploma, at $305.

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