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Student Life

Post-Graduation Statistics That Will Blow Your Mind

And not in a good way.

Rachel Raupp

May 30, 2017

Eastern Michigan University

Post-Graduation Statistics That Will Blow Your Mind

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You'd think the life of a college graduate would be relaxing - no more homework, studying, or stressing. For me, that's not the case. Now the race is on to find a big girl job and leave behind the steady and reliable job that helped me through college.

It's been a month since graduation and I have zero job leads. My anxiety, panic, and stress are at an all-time high. I wake up each morning and go to bed each night with the nightmare-esque thought "I don't have a job" reverberating through my head. I'm frequently fifteen pages deep on job posting websites and have felt my heart climb into my throat as I choked on nothing but this realization: this shit is harder than any class I've ever taken, any assignment I've ever worked on, and any test I've ever completed.

My thoughts turned into curiosity, which involved many searches online, and now I want to share my results with you. If you're a recent graduate or a graduate still looking for a job, have no fear, you are not alone (that doesn't make this the slightest bit better, I know). Here are some mind-blowing/boggling statistics of life post-graduation:

33.4% - the percentage of Americans to earn a bachelor's degree, according to The Hill.

7 out of 10 students - the fraction of students that graduate with loans, according to The Institute for College Access and Success.

$30,100 - The average amount of debt college students graduate with, according to TICAS (same source as above). According to the same source, in Michigan, this number barely stumbles down to $30,045.Also, Michigan is ranked 12th for the amount of debt students graduate with.

21 years - the average number of years it takes for a graduate to pay off their student loans, according to US News.

12% - the percentage of students who graduated with a job lined up, according to Money.

3 to 9 months - the average amount of time it takes college graduates to find a job post-graduation (same source as above).

27.3% - the percentage of graduates who obtain a job in their major, according to The Washington Post.

1.9 million - the number of graduates for the 2016-2017 school year, according to National Center for Education Statistics.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.

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