Can't Find A Job? Sue The School!

One news story certainly caught my eye this morning. A New York City graduate is suing her former school because she wasn't able to find a job after getting her bachelor's degree, according to NBC's New York affiliate.

[Trina] Thompson, a graduate of Monroe College, is suing her school for the $70,000 she spent on tuition because she hasn't found solid employment since receiving her bachelor's degree in April, according to a published report.

 

The business-oriented school in the Bronx didn't do enough to help her find a job, Thompson alleges, so she wants a refund. The college says it does plenty for grads.

 

The 27-year-old information-technology student accuses the school's Office of Career Advancement for not living up to its end of the deal and offering her the leads and employment advice it promised, according to The New York Post.

This is an interesting lawsuit. It reminds me of a lawsuit from 2006 where the person got a job, and then sued because they weren't hired earlier (New York Times recap here). The reason it reminded me of the same case is that, in the end, the case was lost, with the S.E.C. lawyer claiming that Aguirre was not hired in the first place because he was found to be arrogant and "displayed a sense of entitlement to the position".

 

I think that is the same feeling I get here. Just because you graduate with a bachelors degree, it does not entitle you to a position. The unemployment rate in this country (according to Google's Public Data) is 9.7% as of June. In New York, it was 8.6%. If every one of those people who earned a degree sued their higher education providers, there would be no more higher education providers in this country. Just because you have a degree, you are not guaranteed a job, especially in this economy. And hopefully potential candidates to your companies are realizing that more and more as this recession grows deeper.