UNC’s graduate and professional school fair attracts record 58 schools

A full house of 58 graduate and professional schools from across the country sent representatives to UNC’s second Graduate and Professional School fair Thursday.

In only its second year, the event reached its maximum capacity of 58 quickly.

The fair’s popularity reflects recent increases in the number of college students applying to graduate school, a trend likely related to the unstable economy and resulting competitiveness of the job market, representatives from the different schools said.

Jeannie Friedrich, a graduate admissions counselor at Virginia Commonwealth University, said she has noticed increases in graduate school applications since the 2008 economic crisis.

“Nowadays, bachelors’ degrees are almost akin to high school diplomas,” Friedrich said. “In order to be more competitive, people are going back to school to learn different skills that will be viable in new markets.”

Senior psychology major Peter Cianci said he thinks a graduate degree will be necessary if he wants to be competitive in the social work field.

“With the tough economy, I want to get as much education as possible before I try to enter into the workforce,” Cianci said.

Although the percentage of the UNC senior class applying to graduate school has increased since 2008, the number dropped slightly for the class of 2011.

Tim Stiles, associate director of University Career Services, said students are realizing that graduate school might not be the best option for avoiding the job market slump because economic problems are lasting longer than expected.

“Students are questioning, ‘Do I want to take on more debt?’” he said.

Stiles said the fair was so popular that several schools had to be put on a waitlist, unlike last year.

“This large number says something about the caliber of our students,” he said. “The graduate programs are targeting particular schools, and UNC is at the top of their list.”

Kimberly Ebeling, an assistant director of admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management, said the UNC candidates she spoke with were enthusiastic.

“We feel that there is great potential for finding students here who will be successful in our program,” she said.

Kathy Wisser, a professor of library and information science at Simmons College, said her school is not only trying to attract UNC’s high-caliber students, but is also seeking a more diverse audience.

“Since we are Boston-located, we are trying to reach out to other areas of the country,” Wisser said.

Stiles said he expects even more schools to come next year. He said each table will probably be split in half in order to make room for more schools.

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