Using NewsHour Extra Feature Stories

Overview: NewsHour Extra features stories can help students identify and interpret key issues in current events. This activity anticipates one class period, but the follow-up essay might be assigned as homework, or in another period.

Warm Up: Use initiating questions to introduce the topic and find out how much your students know.

Main Activity: Have students read NewsHour Extra's feature story and answer the questions on the reading comprehension handout.

Discussion: Use discussion questions to encourage students to think about how the issues outlined in the story affect their lives and express and debate different opinions.

Follow-up: Students can write an 500-word editorial on the topic expressing their views and send it to NewsHour Extra [extra@newshour.org] for possible publication.

Evaluation: Students are graded on their answers to reading comprehension questions and/or their editorial.

Story: Job Market for Grads Best in Years, 05/11/05
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june05/jobs_5-11.html

Initiating Questions:

1. If you were looking for a job, would it be easy to find one?
2. How easy is it to find a job if you are a college graduate?
3. How much does it cost to go to college?
4. How do people usually pay for college?

Reading Comprehension Questions: (click here for printout)

1. What did a recent government report say about the job market for new graduates?

A recent labor market report from the Department of Labor showed that 274,000 new jobs were created in April, far more than economists expected.

2. How many people are expected to graduate from colleges and universities this year?

The increase in available jobs comes as nearly 2 million graduates prepare to receive their degrees this spring. More than 1.3 million will earn their bachelor's degrees and another 670,000 will earn associate's degrees or other two-year credentials.

3. What sorts of perks are employers offering new hires this year as opposed to previous years?

Unlike past years when the job market was weak and graduates had a hard time finding jobs, employers are hiring 13 percent more than they were last year, according to Marilyn Mackes, director of the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Employers also are paying slightly higher salaries. In industries like computer science, computer engineering and information systems, the association's regular survey of more than 2,000 employers showed that salaries have increased by between 7 percent and 10 percent from last year.

"They are also improving benefits," Mackes said. "For example, more than 40 percent are going to be offering signing bonuses. There will be increased benefits in terms of whether it's vacation or … recreational facilities."

4. Are new graduates having an easy time finding jobs?

Despite signs of an improved job market, college graduates still face an uphill battle finding permanent employment and earning enough money to pay off costly student loans.

"The statistics don't necessarily jibe with what people are seeing out there on the street because if you're getting out of school this month and you're looking at job Web sites, you're going to see new phrases like 'long-term temporary' or 'temporary to permanent'," said Anya Kamenetz, a writer for the Village Voice in New York whose column "Generation Next" monitors economic prospects for young people.

5. What is the average student loan balance that recent graduates are paying?

Graduates of four-year colleges carried an average balance of $23,485 in student loan debt and had monthly payments of $184, according to a 2004 survey by Collegiate Funding Services, a student loan servicing company.

6. How do student loans affect other areas of people's lives?

"Surveys are showing that people are postponing big decisions like buying a car or buying a house, and they may be constrained in looking for a job or in perhaps moving to a new city, even in starting a family because of the debt that's weighing them down," Kamenetz said.

"When you have an obligation like that … you can't necessarily take the kind of risks and the kind of bold entrepreneurship that … is really important to getting ahead in today's competitive market."

Discussion Activity (more research might be needed):

1. The U.S. unemployment rate is 5.2 percent. How does that compare to unemployment rates in other countries like Canada and the U.K.? What does a country's unemployment rate say about its economy?

2. Some private colleges and universities cost $30,000 a year to attend vs. some community colleges which can cost as little as $1500. What are the benefits of each type of school? What type of college do you plan to attend when you graduate and why?

Write a 300-500 word essay on any of these topics providing clear examples. Send your completed editorial to NewsHour Extra [extra@newshour.org]. Exceptional essays might be published on our Web site.