Poll: 41% of College Graduates Underemployed

A new poll conducted by global management firm Accenture finds that 41% of U.S. workers who graduated from college in the last two years are underemployed and working in jobs that did not require a college degree.

The poll also found that just 16% of college students who will graduate this year had already landed a job. Worse, 32% of the 2011 and 2012 college graduates who are employed make $25,000 or less in annual salary.

Low earnings like that make climbing out of student debt difficult. Indeed, 34% of those surveyed said they have student loan debt of $30,000 or less and 17% owed between $30,000 and $50,000.

With job prospects bleak and personal debt so high, 32% of the students who will graduate in 2013 say they plan to move back home after graduation.  Indeed, 44% of those who graduated college in 2011 and 2012 say they currently live at home with their parents.

The survey was based on 1,010 students slated to graduate in 2013 and 1,005 students who graduated college in 2011 and 2012.