The U.S. Census Bureau says 1.6 million college degrees will be awarded this year, a figure that has climbed steadily. 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 glut of applicants.

　　A surging number of graduating seniors are vying for paid and unpaid internships and positions with nonprofit groups, and applying to the government-run Peace Corps, 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 counselor 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.

　　美國人口調查局稱，今年美國的應屆大學畢業生數量預計將達160萬，近年來這一數字一直呈穩步增長趨勢。很多應屆畢業生在離開學校之際希望可以獨立謀生，并且希望能夠償還平均2.25萬美元的助學貸款。

　　對于馬薩諸塞州伍斯特市克拉克大學的阿曼達•海默斯這樣的應屆畢業生來說，疲軟的就業市場不斷傳來的壞消息令人擔憂，甚至讓人心生恐慌。

　　她在接受電話采訪時說：“人們都說，這一年畢業最倒霉。”

　　威斯康星大學麥迪遜分校的就業指導員萊斯利•柯爾伯格說，美國經濟持續衰退，失業率不斷攀升，目前已達8.5%，創25年來最高水平。面對這樣的形勢，一些大學應屆畢業生“非常焦慮”，甚至放棄了找工作。

　　很多應屆畢業生打算直接讀研，在等待經濟危機結束的同時給自己充電，這在一定程度上造成申請碩士學位的人數大幅上升。

　　越來越多的應屆畢業生正競爭非贏利性組織帶薪或無薪的實習崗位或職位，以及申請政府主管的“和平隊”、“美國援教”和“美國服務隊”等項目。

　　奧巴馬總統于本月21日發表演講時稱，目前所有這些項目可提供的職位都供不應求。奧巴馬在講話中宣布簽署法令，將“美國服務隊”的職位總數增至原來的四倍，達到25萬。

　　威斯康星大學的就業指導員蘭迪•沃勒說：“盡管他們的工資僅能維持最低生活水平，但他們在等待就業市場復蘇的這段時間所做的事情是非常令人愉悅的。”

　　在校園招聘會上，一些學生失望離場，因為招聘單位削減招聘預算，招聘職位寥寥無幾。但招聘單位仍然盡力參加招聘會，以便在經濟復蘇后的招聘市場占據有利地位。

　　美國龐大的“嬰兒潮”一代在未來幾年內將陸續退休，而近年來的大學畢業生數量僅為其人數的三分之一，所以招聘市場的競爭將日趨激烈。