Tuesday October 30, 2001

Officials cannot say same about job opportunities

With economic trends not as promising as recent years, students graduating might want to enroll in graduate school for a more competitive edge before jumping into the job market, a UA economics professor said.

Alfonso-Flores Lagunes, professor of Econometrics, Labor and Monetary Economics and Statistics, said the recent downturn in the economy is likely to cause an increase in the enrollment of graduate schools.

"Students are making an investment in graduate schools rather than going into the job market," Lagunes said.

But Lagunes said he does not expect the recent economic slowdown caused by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to continue.

"The attacks will not have a long-term effect on the economy," Lagunes said.

Since the attacks, employers are expected to hire 19.7 percent fewer new college graduates for 2001-2002 than they hired in 2000-01.

Gary Pivo, dean of the University of Arizona Graduate College, agreed that the economy has played a role in the recent increases in graduate college enrollment and will continue to do so for the next semester.

Nearly 7,500 students are currently enrolled in the Graduate College - an 18.5 percent increase from last year's student enrollment figures.

He also attributes the rise in the enrollment of international students to the economy.

Pivo said that because of the positive increase in the international economy, more people have the opportunity to go to graduate school.

"International student enrollment has gone up 100 percent this fall," Pivo said. In Fall 2000, 1,480 international students were enrolled in the Graduate College.

Pivo said that a good GPA is a major factor that most UA departments look at when deciding to accept a student into the Graduate College.

"Departments at the UA will generally admit a student with a GPA of 3.6 or above," Pivo said.

UA Honors College students are required to keep a 3.5 GPA or above to remain in the college. Honors students may have an advantage over other students in getting into graduate school, Pivo said.

"I think it's certainly conceivable; I think it's constant with the idea to be more competitive," Pivo said. "I think it will help."

One honors student said she thinks the distinction will help her appear more lucrative to graduate schools.

"I think graduating with honors makes some (students) more agreeable for graduate school," said history senior Pamela Bennett.