If the economic downturn follows past patterns, more college seniors may consider applying for graduate school instead of going straight to work, experts say.

Clifford Kern, an economics professor at Binghamton University, said that more students go on to further schooling in bad times than in good times.

“They might think it is better to stay in school than be unemployed,” Kern said.

According to Kern, a number of students could be discouraged from applying to graduate school because they might have less personal resources available. Others, however, may be encouraged to apply because they would not have to worry about sacrificing employment opportunities due to a decline in attractive job offers.

Grad School

John Roby, assistant to the president of the Graduate Student Organization, said he does not think the economy will affect graduate school enrollment.

Students, Roby said, usually apply to graduate school for professional or intellectual development.

In fact, students who might be attending graduate school as a source of “shelter” from the job market are making a flawed decision, according to Roby.

“Grad students have to teach additional courses and work part-time jobs in addition to going to school,” he said. “We are not [getting] wealthy doing this.”

Bill McCarthy, associate director of the Career Development Center, agreed.

“If you are spending your time and money, there should be a meaning and passion behind the decision,” he said. “The economy should be only one factor in the decision process.”

Law School

Mary Daly, the pre-law adviser at BU, said that it could be more difficult than before to get loans to cover the expenses of law school.

It is possible, however, that there will be a greater number of applicants.

“This happens when the likelihood of finding a job is low,” she said.

Most students start preparing for law school early in their undergraduate career, she said, which makes it hard to detect whether there has been an increase in the number of applicants.

Daly said that she would not be able to tell whether the pool of applicants is bigger or not until February 2009.

According to Daly, about 90 percent of people with legal degrees will find a job after graduation.

“It has a good employment picture,” she said.

Pre-Health

Dr. W. Thomas Langhorne, a pre-health adviser, said there is some data that indicates an increase in applicants to medical schools when the economy shifts downward.

According to Langhorne, the economy might drive people to alter their career goals.

“They will probably be looking for something in constant demand,” he said. “The health profession has always been in demand.”

Application numbers to medical school, Langhorne said, would vary based on how long it takes the economy to recover.

“If the economy takes two or three years to recover, I would expect more applicants,” he said. “However, if the economy recovers rather quickly, I don’t know if we would see more people applying.”

Langhorne said that because there is a number of courses required for students that want to apply for admission into medical schools, it could be two years before there’s a recognizable shift in applicants.

Forecast

Students still have options, according to McCarthy.

Ninety-three percent of people in the United States are still working, he said, and there was a record number of employers at the Job and Internship Fair in September.

“This is evidence that even though the economy is tough there are still avenues of employment,” McCarthy said. “It’s an important decision. It’s like choosing the right journey.”