Once upon a time, a college degree was considered a ticket to success.  If you had a diploma, a sheepskin, if you will, you could easily find a job.  You would make more money.  You were almost guaranteed a promising start to a career.  Not so much anymore.

An article in the Huffington Post points out that if you are a college graduate and lose your job you may be in the same dire straits as an employee with a mere high school diploma.  In short, all that money for school, all those student loans, and you still may be home living with your parents with the big event of the day being your mother's special grilled cheese sandwich.

Given that most employers like to hire candidates that already have a job, the market it even tougher.  The longer you are out of work, the tougher it is to find a job.  Which is why I guess I notice sales clerks at department stores,and others who look bored working menial jobs, appearing far too skilled for that job.   Sometimes I ask what they did before.  I hear everything from school teacher to engineer.  And, of course, this being Hollywood, some were formerly in show business, which has encountered its own particular share of downsizing.

Consider that a full thirty five percent of unemployed college graduates, including those with advanced degrees, have been out of work for over a year.   That is the same approximate percentage as those unemployed workers with high school diplomas.

Welcome to the modern world.

So, as I remember, parents and everyone telling us how that college diploma was the ticket to prosperity.  Now it may only entitle you to food stamps.