Public Service and the Graduate

Yesterday's NYTimes features an article about how shocked top tier colleges are that their graduates are going on to high paying financial and business careers rather than seeking out jobs in the public service sector. They seem to be frustrated that students are choosing careers for the purposes of networking and money. To me it seems shocking that our academic leaders are shocked. It doesn't seem hard to figure out why students would be drawn into careers that are billed as a way that will lead them to fame and glory, or at least prestige, a nice car, a great house or apartment, and being debt free.

What's this you ask, debt free? The nonprofit/public service sector is not known for its great rewards financially. Let's face it, most of us working the nonprofit circuit do it for the love of a cause and to feel good about what we do. When we go home, we're not exactly going home to luxury and ease. Nonprofits simply can't pay its employees wages that are competitive with the business or financial sectors, and many are top heavy in terms of pay. The individuals who hold those top paying positions certainly aren't going anywhere anytime soon, and whose to blame them, decent wages and a career they love? But love doesn't pay the bills. It's a simple fact that those carrying student loan debt, or god forbid credit card debt, are going to struggle to get out beneath them if they work in nonprofits or public service. Students who are getting ready graduate are faced with hard decisions in terms of finances. For example, spending one year at my undergrad will currently set you back $44,500 and with 62% of students getting need based financial aid at $23,700 it's still setting students back roughly $20,000 a year if they don't get additional aid(not including books mind you). This is for students who get need based aid, I'm not talking about those who without need based. Upon graduation the average debt per students is $28,000. Ouch. So it's not surprising that when faced with finding a job, many students are looking at their bills and thinking they need a high paying job to get by. They certainly will be able to pay off their bills a lot quicker than students who chose nonprofit or public jobs.

Some universities are working to change this reality because they're tired of their top students automatically being funneled into Wall Street like jobs. Princeton, Williams, Amherst, and Davidson are eliminating loans from their funding options which would allow students the financial freedom to pursue nonprofit jobs. Tufts has instituted a loan forgiveness program for students who choose to work in the nonprofit sector. This creates a great opportunity for nonprofits to recruit future sector leaders at these schools. Let's face it, students are also choosing to go on to the financial and business sectors because they are also recruiting there. Applying through university career service offices can be as simple as clicking a button to send your resume. Nonprofits don't have this streamlined ability because as a whole they aren't as large, they aren't hiring as many people. Still, a national representative of the nonprofit industry should be there and visible on college campuses to let students know they have other options. Teach for America and AmericCorps are large enough to situate themselves, but smaller nonprofits band together to attend or host career fairs (Idealist.org has had these in the past but there's none scheduled currently).