US college graduates: almost half are overqualified for their jobs

Almost half of Americans with four-year college degrees are employed in jobs that require less than a bachelor's degree, according to a new study released today, CNN reported.

The report, “Why Are Recent College Graduates Underemployed? University Enrollments and Labor Market Realities,” published by the nonprofit research group the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, finds that about 48 percent of US college graduates are in jobs that require less than a bachelor’s degree, and 37 percent are working in positions that only require a high-school diploma, Inside Higher Education reported.

They’re taxi drivers, fire-fighters, sales clerks and telemarketers, CNN reported.

"A lot of people, particularly people with bachelor's degrees, are getting jobs, but not good jobs," Ohio University economist Richard Vedder, one of the report’s co-authors, said, according to CNN.

Vedder is a long-time opponent of college for all, arguing that too many Americans go to college since they’re aren’t enough jobs in the economy that require skills taught at college, Inside Higher Education reported.

Combing through US Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the report’s authors found that about 15 percent of taxi drivers had at least a bachelor's degree in 2010 compared with less than 1 percent of taxi drivers in 1970, CNN reported.

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