To the millions familiar with my writing and wit, it’s well known that I did not go to college. Thus, I always take a certain Schadenfreude upon hearing of the hard times befalling college graduates. The L.A. Times has a recent article on the growing trend of college graduates taking jobs that do not require their degrees. It ain’t pretty…

Because college is so expensive, many students are facing a dilemma: If they go to college, they still might not get a job that requires a college degree, and they’ll be on the hook for big student loan payments. But if they don’t go to college, they might be pushed out of entry-level jobs by overqualified college graduates who can’t find other work.

How does this play out at the individual level? Take Mariah Arcuri’s story.

…Mariah Arcuri paid off all her debts before starting her job in a lab, which required a college degree.

She worked as a bartender in New York, earning about $90,000 a year. She paid for her college education, her graduate school and her wedding with savings from tending bar.

But because she wanted to spend time with her husband, Arcuri eventually stopped bartending and got back her nights and weekends. She now works in a lab and makes only about two-thirds of what she did as a bartender, despite her master’s degree in biochemistry.

“I went to grad school to make more money, and then I realized that you don’t make more money,” Arcuri said. “Now I feel like I’m poor.”

We’ve been told for years that the high cost of a college education eventually repays itself. I wonder if that will continue to be the case.