This Year’s College Grads Have A Tricky Road Ahead

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KQED

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 22 May 2026

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The college graduates in the Class of 2026 have not had an easy path. Part of their high school years were spent in Covid lockdown. And now, they are graduating into a difficult economy pockmarked by political strife, high cost of living and the rise of AI. Nationally, more than 40% of recent college graduates are considered underemployed, working in jobs that do not require their degree, and the unemployment rate for recent grads has risen to 5.6%. Graduating into uncertain economic cycles is nothing new, but how are this year’s graduates coping? We’ll talk to students about their experiences and to experts about how to navigate this job market. Guests: Emily Medress, chief strategy and operations officer, Kissick Family Foundation Stella Occhialini, graduating senior, UC Berkeley Caden Chang, college senior, San Jose State University Anita Manuel, associate director, career education, San Jose State University Nicole Smith, research professor and chief economist, Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:21.8	dot UK slash podcast to learn more. Everybody has a hot take on the economy. And whether you're
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0:34.3	Hi, I'm Kai Rizdahl, the host of Marketplace. Our award-winning reporters talk to everybody from
0:39.0	CEOs to farmers to help you understand how the economy takes shape in the real world. You'll be
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0:56.1	Welcome to forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal. This morning we're talking about the job market for
1:01.0	recent college graduates. When I mentioned this show at a dinner recently, one parent said
1:06.9	of her recent grad's cohort, they are really just feeling hopeless.
1:12.2	Is it really that bad?
1:13.5	We're not in a recession, nor in the midst of a housing market collapse,
1:18.1	but unemployment for recent grads is ticking up.
1:21.6	Housing is crazy expensive.
1:23.6	And there's a persistent feeling that the very jobs that were to be for new grads and to be their first rung on the ladder of life are being taken up by more seasoned employees using AI.
1:35.9	Let's meet a couple of college grads.
1:39.5	Stella Akalini is a graduating senior at UC Berkeley, majored in English and anthropology on the staff
1:47.5	of the Daily Californian. Welcome, Stella. Hi, I'm so happy to be here. We also have
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