COLLEGE RECRUITING ACTIVITY POSITIVE ECONOMIC SIGN

posted by Michael Chihak

Arizona's three public universities will graduate more than 21,000 students next week, sending the vast majority of them out in search of work.

Some have jobs waiting for them, many in the state. For others, the future is no more certain than the shaky state of the economy, both in Arizona and nationally.

However, campus career service officials at all three universities report increased business recruitment activity this school year, and at least one is calling it better than in the last two years. That is clearly a sign of economic improvement.

A report last week from the state Department of Commerce projected that the state will add 17,300 jobs in 2011, not nearly enough to absorb this year's graduates.

Next year is projected to be better, at 34,000 new jobs, but how many of those will be at the level to sustain college graduates or to pay them enough so they can begin climbing out of their educational debt is uncertain.

We will review the prospects for Friday's Arizona Week broadcast, speaking with university career services officials, recruiters and students.