Go to college.

If you are reading this, you have probably heard it before – from your high school counselor.

What your counselor didn’t tell you is how to find a job after you rack up tens of thousands of dollars in student loans.

As we struggle to survive the latent effects of the national credit crunch and the housing market fallout, we are entering the beginning stages of an education bubble.

Education bubble?

I thought education was necessary.

Well, it is; and it isn’t.

During his last visit to YSU, Gov. Ted Strickland touted an increase of more than 65,000 students enrolled in Ohio colleges as a direct result of his plan for higher education.

YSU’s enrollment has increased by more than 2,000 students in the last six years. The Eastern Gateway Community College added more than 2,000 bodies to the local student population last year.

Ohio’s unemployment rate jumped from 6.6 percent in 2008 to 10.2 percent in 2009, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Youngstown-Warren-Boardman area has lost nearly 30,000 jobs since July 2005.

While 65,000 more students are enrolled today, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services projects only 25,200 new jobs by 2016.

It’s simple: more graduates, less jobs.

The bubble occurs when these extra 65,000 college students graduate, fail to find employment, default on their student loans and the bottom falls out on the higher education idea.

Penniless and unemployed, students will be treading debt and compounded interest before they ever see a paycheck. Unless Ohio creates more jobs, and YSU focuses on job placement.

Nowhere on the YSU website do they express the percentage of graduate students who have found employment.

We do not discourage higher education. We only promote practicality.

Be careful what you wish for. A college education is not your end-all ticket to employment.

Market yourself, take advantage of every opportunity possible and initiate your job search long before you graduate.