Well, one thing I know about today is that the emphasis is on the student to sell their qualifications after graduation, not companies selling their positions to new graduates. That and the economy has just been downsizing more and more since our parents went to college, I think. There's more competition for fewer positions, which leaves the less-than-best performers, or those that kind of just want to glide into something, at the bottom of the stack.
But I do know my college was packed with job fairs and recruiting stuff. For me, I decided early on I was going to get my degree and find something else, I didn't want to work professionally in my field. That decision is why I am where I am now, with a degree and no real prospects for it.
As one of my teachers told me (I went in for Journalism btw, which is billed as competitive from the outset) about my college education...."You get out of it what you put into it." In my case, I put in what was needed to graduate, and I did it with soul, but that's all I did. And I know many people go to college thinking if they just do the tests, read the books and do the projects, blamo, job will appear. That's not the reality anymore, at all. And I started getting that message THE MINUTE I went into a non-general studies major. It depressed me at the time, and in the end, I think it killed my desire to try to do anything through the college system. But I didn't really try to make the system work for me, and sometimes I regret that.
Then I watch the news and read the newspaper and remember I made the right decision.
So before you run off to blame the businesses or the colleges, remember....the US is full of the children of baby boomers, who can go to college simply because there is money and they're expected to. Many of them have no idea why they're there, but they know they want a job. From the employer's perspective, they need to weed through the chaff to find someone they really want. Because there's plenty of chaff to choose from otherwise.