ATLANTA - The college degree is becoming the new high school diploma: the new minimum requirement, albeit an expensive one, for getting even the lowest-level job in the United States.

Consider the 45-person law firm of Busch, Slipakoff & Schuh here in Atlanta, a place that has seen tremendous growth in the college-educated population. Like other employers across the United States, the firm hires only people with a bachelor's degree, even for jobs that do not require college-level skills - the receptionist, paralegals, administrative assistants and file clerks. Even the in-house courier who, for $10 an hour, ferries documents between the courthouse and the office went to a four-year school.

"College graduates are just more career-oriented," said Adam Slipakoff, the firm's managing partner. "Going to college means they are making a real commitment to their futures. They're not just looking for a paycheck."

Economists have referred to this phenomenon as "degree inflation," and it has steadily infiltrated America's job market. Across industries and geographic areas, many other jobs that didn't previously require a diploma - positions like dental hygienists, cargo agents, clerks and claims adjusters - are increasingly requiring one, according to Burning Glass, a company that analyzes job ads.

One effect is the push of the less educated further down the ladder, and it helps explain why the unemployment rate for workers in the United States with no more than a high school diploma is more than twice that for workers with a bachelor's degree: 8.1 percent versus 3.7 percent.

Some jobs, like those in supply chain management and logistics, have become more technical, and so require more advanced skills. But more broadly, because so many people are going to college now, those who do not graduate are often assumed to be unambitious or less capable.

"When you get 800 resumes for every job ad, you need to weed them out somehow," said Suzanne Manzagol, executive recruiter at Cardinal Recruiting Group.

"When I started recruiting in '06, you didn't need a college degree, but there weren't that many candidates," Ms. Manzagol said.

Even if they are not applying the knowledge they gained in college, the young graduates employed by Busch, Slipakoff & Schuh say they are grateful for even the rote office work.

"It sure beats washing cars," said Landon Crider, 24, the firm's runner who did scrub sedans before and after graduating from college.

Megan Parker, who earns $37,000 as the firm's receptionist, graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta in 2011 with a degree in fashion and retail management, and spent months at a couture boutique while filling out office-job applications.

"I am over $100,000 in student loan debt right now," she said. "I will probably never see the end of that bill, but I'm not really thinking about it right now."

The risk with hiring college graduates for jobs they are supremely overqualified for is that they will leave as soon as they find something better.

Mr. Slipakoff said his firm had little turnover, though, largely because of its rapid expansion. The company has grown to more than 30 lawyers from 5 in 2008, plus a support staff of about 15, and promotions have abounded.

"They expect you to grow, and they want you to grow," said Ashley Atkinson, who graduated from Georgia Southern University in 2009 with a general studies degree. "You're not stuck here under some glass ceiling."

The New York Times

(China Daily 03/03/2013 page10)