Turbulent Times for American Youth

Times could not be any rougher for, both, students going in to and coming out of the US schools and universities. The ongoing economic crisis is putting to test the ability of educational as well as corporate institutions to take on the vast pools of aspiring students and professionals. This ground reality is starting to paint a fairly bleak picture for the long term competitiveness of the American firms and workforce. 

Let’s first take a look at the state schools and colleges. The two primary sources of revenues for these educational institutions are student tuition and public tax dollars. Thanks to the economy, parents of students are having a tough time coming up with the large tuition and boarding funds for their kids. The parents themselves are having a tough time holding on to their jobs, let alone supporting their kid’s dreams. As for the funding and subsidies from the states, that too is being scaled back with the state itself running in red as a result of the various legacy commitments that include the much controversial retirement and healthcare benefits to government employees. Declining number and value of academic scholarships and other forms of financial aids is another indicator of the financial hardships the aspiring students are having to endure.

On the other end of the talent pipeline are the graduating students; some 200K students graduated from various programs across the country last year. They are entering the marketplace which is already flooded with highly capable, experienced, and seasoned professionals. In economic terms, the supply is ridiculously exceeding the demand and the winners here are the hiring firms and institutions It just means that there is going to be that much more competition for those few jobs and there is going to be downward pressure on wages. As we have been reading for a while, we are in a unique spot where its deflation, not inflation, that is give economists and bankers heartburns. Get this, the unemployment number for people in the age bracket of 21-25 years is approximately 18%, almost double that of the national average for all age groups. Yes, we do not need any other proof to tell us that we have a genuine national crisis at hand here. Instead of doing something that they went to school for, graduates are having to settle for part-time jobs waiting tables or working at the malls.

There used to be a time when we were importing boatloads of graduates and professionals, from emerging countries, to support are overheated economy. Not any more; we’ve got the case of reverse-osmosis where the foreign talent based in US is now heading back to the booming markets of their erstwhile home countries. Economic growth is the only revolution that is going to get us out of this mess, whether it is getting more funds to schools for running the institutions or increase in entry-level hiring within corporate America. After solving the housing, banking, and healthcare crisis, President Obama needs to focus squarely on America’s youth. Left unattended, this national asset can quickly turn into a messy liability with the youth losing their focus and desire to pursue their professional dreams or worst case, resorting to uncivilized, unhealthy, and unworthy activities.

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