We new Graduate students need reform, Government read this now!

Hi folks,

Just wanted to ask if anyone else who has recently graduated is having trouble finding work in your new degree? I am having a hell of a time. I think in the 25 months I've been official unemployed I have seen maybe two entry level positions in my field, which is Game Artist.

What I'm seeing allot of in the ads for jobs in the Modeler positions is that companies are asking for previously published titles, at least three of them? Am I missing something? Three published titles? I'm a graduate, a RECENT graduate, where am I supposed to get three published titles from? My Ar**...any how it doesn't make sense as that being a requirement for newbie’s.

I think government needs to intervene once again on our behalf. We need companies that actually hire from the pool of new graduates for ENTRY level positions without stupid previous work demands. In return I think these companies should get tax breaks and incentives if they hang onto their new hires long term.

Something needs to be done this is a trap, fraud and scam and a total let down to new graduate students. It’s a fraud for schools to say the placement rate is at 75% when I know it is not, after all I’m in touch with a lot of graduate students and approximately 95% of my graduating class is not working in our degree. It’s a scam when Colleges or Universities tell you they give you placement assistance when you graduate, which you believe are to do with your field of study but the jobs they direct your way have nothing to do with your degree, and on top of that are usually part-time or very low paying so you can’t tackle your student loan with them.

Then the Student loan provider like Sallie Mae, raised the interest to loans at around 10% or slightly higher, from around 4%-5%, outrageous!. They still give the customary forbearance or deferment of 6 months, and will extend that to a year with some payments. But then after that the loans begin to come due with high payments and no job to pay them off with. What do you let go? Your home or your student loan? In my case I’d rather have a home to live in. If you let them slide because there’s nothing you can do about it they call 3-4 times a day and threaten you with wage garnishment, which if that happened to my wife wages, would cause us to loose our home.

We need government to step in and say "look schools and Sallie Mae either your graduate students get a job in their degree within 3 months of graduation or they get a deferment until there is a job in their field without interest or fees. If they cannot find a job within a year in their degree then you buy the loan from them." See if that lights a fire under their asses to get pertinent jobs and support programs to you in a more timely manner. Also Colleges and Universities need to have their fingers on the pulse of actual employers who hire in these fields and should know what you need precisely to get an entry level job as well as a list from companies that are looking for entry level's and contacts.

And as I said companies need a shot in the ass to hire from the graduated pool of workers or suffer higher taxes and no other breaks. Further more government needs to step in an ensure companies hire from US graduate pools. They need to register and hire so many new graduates for entry level every month and need to fill related positions higher up the ladder with new grads should entry level not exist or risk loosing any government tax breaks or incentives. They must also hire long term or face removal from the program and paying higher costs to themselves. Make the tax savings or incentives enough to be taken seriously.

We really need some stimulation and incentive for business to hire from the new grad pool and we pay our government representatives to figure out what those incentives might be, so get busy government. Oh and my comments are directed at both Democrats and Republicans whom in my opinion are not doing the right things to stimulate our economy and are serving their own interests more than ours.

Another thing government needs to do is investigate all the degrees offered out there, are some bogus, and will never have work available? Are some priced higher than others for the same degree? If so we need regulation to make each and every similar degree’s curriculum and price no matter which College or University offers it the same nation wide. Tuition should not be based on how exclusive a learning institution thinks it is as opposed to others whether private or public.

Sallie Mae should be held accountable to its practices in that if loans are given and approved for a student on their own credit whether Stafford or Private that at no time in the future for that degree should a student then have to provide a co-signer as was done in my case.

If your tuition is initially based on your credit, then if approved you should be approved for all semesters involved under the degree until its completion without the addition of another co-signer in case I wasn’t clear the first time.

Sallie Mae should also be held accountable to their business practices involving accounts in arrears and should be prevented from undue harassment of the client especially when the client has made fair and reasonable effort to make arrangements on several occasions to keep from arrears as in my case.

Obama is canvassing the nation about his educational reform but I don’t see him covering any of the issues that effect graduates. He and the Republicans alike avoid any issue which serves to make anything financially more manageable for the working class middle to low income family. That’s why change is important.

If this economy is ever to improve it must come from casting aside personal government agenda or party policy to go back to grass roots policy delivered from what the PEOPLE deem important not what paints a pretty picture for the politicians career. Get us back to work make it so we can pay back our bills, give us some grace until our degrees can be used to pay for the cost of themselves. It isn’t rocket science its back to opening your political eyes and ears and listening to us.