A college diploma has long been the ticket to a good job, but the deepest economic slump¹ in decades has dampened the dreams of many U.S. college seniors.

The U.S. Census² Bureau says 1.6 million college degrees will be awarded this year, a figure that has climbed steadily³. Many depart school with expectations of making it on their own and with hopes of repaying student loans that average $22,500.

For seniors like Amanda Haimes at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, the drumbeat of bad news about the weak job market is worrying, even scary.

"People are saying this is the worst year to graduate, ever," she said in a telephone interview.

Confronted by a prolonged recession and a rising 8.5 percent unemployment rate, the highest U.S. rate in a quarter-century, some college seniors have grown "so anxious" and are not looking for a job, said University of Wisconsin, Madison, career services director Leslie Kohlberg.

Many seniors plan to go straight to graduate school to get a leg up while waiting for the recession to end, in some cases creating a glut⁴ of applicants⁵.

A surging number of graduating seniors are vying⁶ for paid and unpaid⁷ internships and positions with nonprofit groups, and applying to the government-run Peace Corps⁸, Teach for America and Americorps.

All the programs have more applicants than available spots, President Barack Obama said in a speech April 21 in which he signed legislation to quadruple to 250,000 the number of position in Americorps.

"They're going to be making subsistence wages, but they're doing something very gratifying until the job market improves," University of Wisconsin career counselor⁹ Randy Wallar said.

At campus job fairs, some students come away disappointed at the few positions offered as employers have cut back recruiting budgets. But employers make an effort to have a presence so as to be in position to compete for workers once the economy recovers.

The huge American baby boom generation will be retiring in coming years, and the generation emerging from college is only one-third the size so competition for their services promises to be fierce.

大学文凭一直是找到一份好工作的敲门砖，但几十年来最严重的经济衰退却击碎了众多美国高校应届毕业生的梦想。

美国人口调查局称，今年美国的应届大学毕业生数量预计将达160万，近年来这一数字一直呈稳步增长趋势。很多应届毕业生在离开学校之际希望可以独立谋生，并且希望能够偿还平均2.25万美元的助学贷款。

对于马萨诸塞州伍斯特市克拉克大学的阿曼达•海默斯这样的应届毕业生来说，疲软的就业市场不断传来的坏消息令人担忧，甚至让人心生恐慌。

她在接受电话采访时说：“人们都说，这一年毕业最倒霉。”

威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校的就业指导员莱斯利•柯尔伯格说，美国经济持续衰退，失业率不断攀升，目前已达8.5%，创25年来最高水平。面对这样的形势，一些大学应届毕业生“非常焦虑”，甚至放弃了找工作。

很多应届毕业生打算直接读研，在等待经济危机结束的同时给自己充电，这在一定程度上造成申请硕士学位的人数大幅上升。

越来越多的应届毕业生正竞争非赢利性组织带薪或无薪的实习岗位或职位，以及申请政府主管的“和平队”、“美国援教”和“美国服务队”等项目。

奥巴马总统于本月21日发表演讲时称，目前所有这些项目可提供的职位都供不应求。奥巴马在讲话中宣布签署法令，将“美国服务队”的职位总数增至原来的四倍，达到25万。

威斯康星大学的就业指导员兰迪•沃勒说：“尽管他们的工资仅能维持最低生活水平，但他们在等待就业市场复苏的这段时间所做的事情是非常令人愉悦的。”

在校园招聘会上，一些学生失望离场，因为招聘单位削减招聘预算，招聘职位寥寥无几。但招聘单位仍然尽力参加招聘会，以便在经济复苏后的招聘市场占据有利地位。

美国庞大的“婴儿潮”一代在未来几年内将陆续退休，而近年来的大学毕业生数量仅为其人数的三分之一，所以招聘市场的竞争将日趋激烈。

Vocabulary:

leg up:（对上马或跨跃障碍时的）帮助