Recent College Grad Salary vs Debt?

[bananasplitkids]

I have trouble believing that this thread is a typical cross section, especially seeing as how in this thread, the typical 1st year Bachelor's degree graduate makes more than the average two income household in our country. My DH got his PhD in math nearly 5 years ago... most of the PhD candidates he knows started delaying graduation because there are not jobs for them, and especially not these great paying jobs this thread is mentioning.
Those getting out, if they get a job, seem to be capping out around 50-60K/year WITH a PhD. Among the jobs he was offered this fall was a good university that was offering roughly $4,000 per course to lecture- so at full time it would only be around $25,000/year with no benefits. Again, that is for a job requiring a PhD in math with experience. Luckily that was not his only offer, but if those are the offers, there are people working for that.

That said, I asked him to start looking for one of these finance jobs because if a Physics PhD is qualified for finance, he definitely is.
Within a few years, if the economy keeps recovering I suspect things will be much better in his field as his older coworkers seem puzzled at what is happening to the "new guys."

I think it definitely has to do with the field they are getting in. For example I graduated in 2011 with a BS in computer science and everyone in my major either went to grad school or got jobs. Those that went the job route made at least $60,000 with the top person making 85k.

 

[mistysue]

I think it definitely has to do with the field they are getting in. For example I graduated in 2011 with a BS in computer science and everyone in my major either went to grad school or got jobs. Those that went the job route made at least $60,000 with the top person making 85k.

I agree. The thing is my husband is actually really good. He is a research mathematician and speaks nationally, and even his peers, a bunch of people with math and science PhD's from Ivy league schools, are finding the job market less friendly than the recent bachelor's graduates on this thread.
Apparently it's a bad time to have a PhD but a great time to stop at a bachelor's? That would be just my luck.

 

[jsmith]

I think that what you get your degree in -what other skills you have-and where you are willing to move has alot to do with it. Since i dont live and breath the DIS i failed to realize the controvery i inadvertantly started. My younger son is most definately a better example of the prospects for current college graduates but he had no trouble getting a job-however aerospace engineers are not a dime a dozen.
My older son is much the exception to the rule-and that high paying job ( quanitative analysis of some type -not really a finance job at all-more a science job for a financial firm) also required him to be multi lingual and willing to be a US exapriate for several years. since they have no children he and his wife thought it was a good opportunity for this time in their lives but he hopes that the US economy will turn and improve job prospects for people of his skill set soon. This type of job is not something many people are going to find and i dont think its something anyone should expect. Because of where he will be living and traveling im not really as comfortable with it as i could be be hes a man grown and doesnt need input from his mother on money vs risk.
I mostly posted the orginal information as a "way out there" than the norm.

 

[Sadie22]

Most of the PhDs I know of got postdoctoral fellowships, which gave them additional experience, before applying for permanent research professorships. They put in many applications and went on multiple second interviews before securing good jobs in other states. They had to be willing to relocate. I don't know of any that have not found well-paying positions when the postdoc work was over.

 

[CloveLeaf]

I think that what you get your degree in -what other skills you have-and where you are willing to move has alot to do with it. Since i dont live and breath the DIS i failed to realize the controvery i inadvertantly started. My younger son is most definately a better example of the prospects for current college graduates but he had no trouble getting a job-however aerospace engineers are not a dime a dozen.
My older son is much the exception to the rule-and that high paying job ( quanitative analysis of some type -not really a finance job at all-more a science job for a financial firm) also required him to be multi lingual and willing to be a US exapriate for several years. since they have no children he and his wife thought it was a good opportunity for this time in their lives but he hopes that the US economy will turn and improve job prospects for people of his skill set soon. This type of job is not something many people are going to find and i dont think its something anyone should expect. Because of where he will be living and traveling im not really as comfortable with it as i could be be hes a man grown and doesnt need input from his mother on money vs risk.
I mostly posted the orginal information as a "way out there" than the norm.

Who told you quantitative analyst is not a finance job? It is an entry level job in the finance world for investment banks. The whole finance world is built on math models. As for your older son, I think that "US expatriate" is the key. That definitely raises the pay scale significantly, especially if it is in the middle east. My friends are multi-lingual as well and got their PhD degrees from Princeton.