As job market tightens further, students continue schooling

Milwaukee -- Senior Rebecca Landberg had planned on graduating from Marquette University this year with an undergraduate degree in marketing and operations management. She planned on working for a few years and then going to graduate school for an MBA. \nHowever, when the job market tightened, she decided to go to graduate school right away. \n"I probably could have found a job in my field of study, but since it was hard to find a job this year, I just decided to go to graduate school right away," Landberg said. \nAs the job market began to tighten last year, some graduating seniors across the country found themselves without a job. In response, many decided to continue their education -- trying to earn an advanced degree to improve their marketability once the job market reopened. \nThis resulted in an increase in graduate school applications across the country, including at Marquette\'s Graduate School. \nThe Graduate School has received 19 percent more applications so far for the 2002-03 academic year than had been received at this time last year. \n"We've had 19 to 20 percent more applications every week, compared to the same time last year, for the last few months," said Craig Pierce, director of admissions for the Graduate School. \nPierce said the major factor behind the increase is the tight job market. He noted at the career fair in September, a student came up to him after being told by numerous businesses they were not hiring or even accepting resumes. \n"The student said, 'Maybe now I'll consider graduate school,'" Pierce said. \nThe Graduate School had a decrease in the number of applicants last year, a decrease Pierce called "not even nearly 19 to 20 percent." \nThere are 2,365 graduate students this academic year, Pierce said. \nAll applicants who meet the admissions requirements -- which vary by field -- will be accepted, Pierce said. \nStudents with a graduate degree will have more to offer future employers than applicants without degrees, Pierce said. \nLandberg said having a graduate degree would improve her chances of getting a job, even if the job market improves. \nLaw schools also have seen a rise in applicants this year. \nMarquette's Law School currently has 32 percent more applications than it had this time last year. Last year the school had 970 applicants. The Law School accepts 160 students each year. \nEdward Kawczynski, dean of admissions at the Law School, expects to receive more than 1,200 applications by the April 1 deadline. \n"Most law schools around the country are experiencing the same growth," Kawczynski said. \nKawczynski attributed this to two things. \n"Before the economy went sour, we ran an aggressive recruitment campaign," he said. \nThe increasingly competitive job market played a greater role in the number of applicants this year, he said. \n"Historically, when the economy is bad, law school applications go up," Kawczynski said. \nNontraditional students -- those re-entering school years after receiving an undergraduate degree -- have applied to the Law School this year as well. Although it is hard to determine the numbers before all the applications are in, Kawczynski said he knows of some applicants who recently were laid off.\nFor a lot of people, a slowing job market is a chance for nontraditional law students to do something they always wanted to do, he said. Law graduates are marketable to an employer, as they can practice law or work for corporations. \n"Some graduates do not want to step into a courtroom," Kawczynski said. "They can use the degree in the corporate sector"