Half of College Graduates Are Working High School Level Jobs

Your first job after college is more important than you might think.

Roughly 52% of recent college graduates are working jobs that don’t require a degree. And for those who find themselves underemployed after graduation, it can be difficult to get career earnings back on track. After a decade, 45% of graduates are still stuck in jobs that don’t require college, according to a report by the Burning Glass Institute and the Strada Education Foundation that looked at data related to educational attainment, employment and career trajectories of more than 60 million workers.

An underemployed graduate earns about 25% more than someone with ...