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This report describes the findings of a nationally representative sample of 444 recent college graduates from the class of 2006 through 2011. The purpose of this study is to understand how recent college graduates are faring in the workforce, specifically looking at those individuals who graduated before and during the difficult labor market caused by the Great Recession. The research explores a number of topics related to the experience of recent college graduates in the workforce. The first two sections of the report analyze respondents' current and past experience in the labor market through a series of questions asking about their job search, the specifications of the job they chose, and their satisfaction with the job attributes. The third section examines the college experience of these graduates. with a particular focus on college funding and debt. The fourth section looks at how well recent college graduates feel they were prepared for the job market. The final section examines how recent college graduates see their financial futures.

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This report presents the findings of a nationally representative sample of 571 US residents who graduated from a four-year college between 2006 and 2010. The goal of this report was to better understand the articulation between their formal education and their initial positions in the workforce. The authors examined how students financed their college education and how much debt they carried away from it, how well college prepared them to enter and be successful in the labor market, and what they would do differently in their college education if they knew then what they know now. The authors also show the diminished expectation of financial success in the generation studied.

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This report describes the findings of a nationally representative sample of 544 recent high school graduates from the classes of 2006 through 2011. The purpose of this study is to understand how recent high school graduates who are not attending college full time are faring in the workforce, specifically looking at those individuals who graduated before and during the difficult labor market caused by the Great Recession. The national recession officially began in late 2007 and ended in 2009. However, [this research classifies] students graduating from 2006, 2007, and 2008 as 'pre-recession' graduates and students graduating in 2009, 2010, and 2011 as 'recession' era graduates because the unemployment situation was dire during this entire period, even though economic growth was positive. The research in this report explores a number of topics related to the experiences of recent high school graduates in the workforce. The report first examines the experiences of high school graduates in the labor market, looking at both their first and current job as well as the experiences of the unemployed. This information was gathered through a series of questions asking about their job search, the specifications of the job they chose, and their satisfaction with their job attributes. Next, the report looks at how well high school graduates feel they were prepared for the job market or attending college. Finally, the report examines how recent high school graduates feel about their financial futures.

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