From This Collection

The best advice for college students unlucky enough to graduate into a recession: Be flexible

May 24, 2018
While studies suggest recession graduates tend to fall behind their nonrecession peers in terms of salary and don’t catch up for 10 to 20 years, there are ways to catch up more quickly and make up the gap.
Christopher Furlong/ Getty Images

How good is it for the class of 2018?

May 23, 2018
This year's college graduates enter one of the best job markets since the Great Recession.
Saul Rivera has just graduated from the University of Texas-Austin with a degree in astronomy. He's been applying for entry-level jobs at planetariums, museums and observatories around the country.
Mitchell Hartman/Marketplace

How much are we earning almost a decade after the Great Recession?

May 23, 2018
A look at the state of wages for young college graduates and how wages break down by education level.
Spencer Platt / Getty Images

Even in a robust economy, all college graduates are not equal

May 23, 2018
It's a good job market for the class of 2018, but not everyone with a B.A. is likely to fare well economically.
Mary Turner/Getty Images

Why a college degree has become more important after the Great Recession, not less

May 22, 2018
Public funding for higher ed may be getting scarcer, but a college degree is only getting more valuable.
US President Barack Obama (C) stands with ASU President Michael Crow (L) during the Arizona State University commencement ceremony at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona May 13, 2009.  
AFP PHOTO/Jim Watson

Expectations run into reality after graduating during the recession

May 22, 2018
Financial damage can be lasting, several studies suggest.
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

The class of 2008 offers advice to the class of 2018

May 22, 2018
Graduates from the Great Recession at the University of Arkansas returned to give advice to this year's graduates.
Graduates from 2008 and 2018 met at the University of Central Arkansas for a roundtable discussion.
Bryan Clifton/Marketplace

For public good, not for profit.

So, you're graduating into a financial crisis ...

May 21, 2018
Here's what notable speakers had to say to the classes of 2009 and 2010, when job opportunities were scarce.
Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

The America left out of the economy

May 3, 2018
Sarah Kendzior describes "systemic inequality, a lot of suffering among citizens" in her collection of essays.
An aerial view of southern North Dakota in 2016, near Bismarck.
AFP/Getty Images

How young homebuyers pull it off

May 3, 2018
Despite common narratives, 20- and 30-somethings are just as interested and hopeful about homeownership as everyone else.
Over the last year, Laura and Phillip Radke have spent thousands of dollars fixing up their $560,000 house in Los Angeles.
Reema Khrais/Marketplace