Marketplace (my favorite show across TV/radio/Internet) had a great story on college grads and the job market. You can listen to the whole thing here. 

Few things that stood out for me and which I plan to share with our team of awesome interns. 

In industries across the board, employers viewed an internship as the single most important credential for recent grads – more than where you went to school or what you majored in. Even your grades.

I tend to agree. In the startup world, if I see you’ve had at least some sort of professional experience in which you used Excel or did some research then I know you’re bringing some skill to bear which I know almost no college classroom will teach. 

The story also referenced David Boyes, who runs a technology company called Sine Nomine Associates. Boyes said 

[t]he company puts probably about a quarter of a million dollars into every single new hire. But that’s the kind of value that we get out of it. We ask people to read Cato the Elder, [w]e ask people to read Suetonius. We do that because we ask them to look at the process – the abstract process – of organizing ideas.

This is really fascinating. Earlier last week we shared the now viral video with Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and others promoting schools to teach more coding to students. But, coming from the head of an IT consulting firm, here is a clarion call for a balanced liberal arts education. 

And $250,000 in training for fresh-out-of-college grads at a firm with only 20 employees? That’s pretty phenomenal and if I lived in the DC area and was graduating from college this year I’d really think about applying. 

By Andrew Beilein

Four years ago I dreamt I would fall into job with a hefty, annual salary of around $60k. I could use that to repay my loans and start building my life as an adult. Isn’t that at least part of the reason why American families work so hard to put their kids through college - because there is a clear return on investment? Studies show that on average, a college degree is worth $1.2 million in lifetime income over a high school diploma. 

A few days after graduating from one of the top universities in the world, I’m blogging with a sense of anxiety about the future. My expectations of a $60k job have been dashed with a summer internship, which is the stark reality for thousands of college graduates in the current economic environment. I will soon descend upon Washington DC with thousands of other disappointed college graduates, not to mention the hordes of undergraduates, to do the summer in DC internship thing. After work we’ll all find places to commiserate on how little (if at all) we are paid and what we are going to do with our lives. 

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The total amount of student debt held in the United States exceeds $1 trillion.

Tuition at public, four-year universities have nearly tripled over the past two decades, while the cost of attending private institutions has nearly doubled.  Currently, the average student graduates from college with $25,000 of debt and many students are saddled with six-figure debt.

These figures should make it clear why a debate about student loans, and in particular government subsidized student loan interest rates are at the forefront of the political stage.

In 2007, Congress initiated a multi-year reduction policy on student loan interest rates or “Stafford loans.” At 3.4%, interest loans currently sit at the lowest level of the aforementioned policy.  Set to double to 6.8% in July, one would expect the government, in an election year where young voters are a key constituency, to act swiftly to prevent the increase from taking place. But as can be expected in the current political climate, this issue been met with the usual partisan disagreement, inflammatory speech, and campaign rhetoric. 

Politicians are quick to visit college campuses, act “youthful” on late night television shows, and claim our educational system the key to remaining the world’s only superpower. Yet, they have been relatively inefficient in forging a solution that will keep college a viable option to millions of young Americans.  Just this week, top Senate Democrat, Harry Reid of Nevada, introduced a bill to extend the low interest rate for one more year, which he plans to pay for by raising taxes on the wealthy. He probably knows this won’t fly with his Republican counterparts, which makes you wonder if he’s trying to not get the bill passed.  Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell retorted ” lets be honest, the only reason democrats have proposed this particular solution to the problem is to get Republicans to oppose it, to make us cast a vote they think will make us look bad to the voters they need to win the next election.”

Whether its true or not, Reid certainly knows the Republicans would never pass this proposal. So, in response the Republicans submitted a bi-partisan plan that keeps rates low, and appeases both parties: you thought I was serious didn’t you?

What Republican Rep. Judy Biggert actually did was introduce a bill that similarly calls for a one-year extension on the low interest rates. To pay for it the bill calls for the elimination of the Prevention and Public Health Fund; a component of the 2010 healthcare reform law. As the Republicans would never pass higher taxes on the wealthy, the same can be said about Democrat’s hacking away at healthcare reform. Unfortunately, this back and forth just continues to take place.

This week, the House voted to extend the low rates on federal student loans. In a vote of (215-195), the $5.9 billion bill solves the interest rate issue along the lines of Biggert’s proposal. Yet, President Obama has threatened to veto the bill, a statement he made before the final vote had been tallied. So, as a result, American’s are left with no solution, and no change. Partisan politics are reigning supreme, and yet again, a looming deadline is staring into the eyes of every American.