Every weekday for four years, Erika Baranek woke up to an early Tuscaloosa morning to attend workouts and practice with the UA women’s rowing team. Now Baranek, who graduated in May 2012 with a degree in communication studies, gets up and prepares for work with one of her four Tuscaloosa employers.
The University does not track how many former students choose to stay in Tuscaloosa following graduation, but Baranek is not the only recent graduate to live and work in the town in which she earned her degree.
Brooks Pearce decided to stay in Tuscaloosa and continue with his managerial position at Schlotzsky’s Deli and strength and conditioning internships with the men’s basketball and tennis teams following his graduation from the University with a degree in exercise and sports science in August 2012.
“I decided to stay in Tuscaloosa because of the connections I made in the athletic program and trusting that they will take me somewhere one day,” Pearce said. “It was nice that I had the job at Schlotzsky’s also, so that I had financial security in order to be able to stay here in Tuscaloosa.”
With the average national unemployment rate at 7.4 percent in December 2012 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, job availability factors significantly in many students’ post-graduation location planning.
According to the BLS, college towns like Ann Arbor, Mich., and Baton Rouge, La., displayed unemployment rates of 4.3 and 4.5 percent, respectively, in November 2012, placing them well below the national average and in the top 30 of United States metropolitan areas with the lowest unemployment rates.
The November 2012 unemployment rate was 6.5 percent for Tuscaloosa and 5.6 percent for the Auburn-Opelika metropolitan statistical area, compared to 7.5 percent for the state of Alabama in the same period, according to the BLS.
According to data provided by Director of Media Relations Cathy Andreen for the fall semester of 2012, the University employed 4,922 full-time and 2,803 part-time positions, including graduate assistantships, for a total of 7,725 workers. The BLS estimated November 2012’s civilian labor force at approximately 99,100, which means the University accounted for roughly 12.83 percent of Tuscaloosa employment during the fall semester.
However, the University’s persuasion to remain extends beyond literal job creation. According to Baranek and Pearce, the less tangible perks an institution of higher learning offers its community also play a significant role in keeping students in town after graduation.
“I think that I stayed in Tuscaloosa because of my church family. I love this city and everything that stands for Tuscaloosa,” Baranek said. “I love the community that I served, so I felt that I was attached to this area. I am a very sports-oriented person, and being around a college town is something that is very desirable, because I like to be around every type of sport there is.”
The University’s athletic prowess also weighed heavily in Pearce’s decision to continue working in Tuscaloosa.
“I think it is important for me specifically to work in a college town because of the field I am pursuing,” he said. “It’s also important to me because I enjoy the excitement that is constantly surrounding the area, whether it is football, basketball or new students. It seems to always be exciting and an enjoyable place to live and work.”
However, Pearce and Baranek both acknowledged that what works now may not be as ideal moving forward. Pearce said he considered moving to attend graduate school at another institution and may still do so in the future. Baranek also said her time in Tuscaloosa may be limited, as she does not consider any of her four jobs a career and one day may need to move for graduate school or advancement opportunities.
“I want to work for athletics at any university now. I may have to move to a bigger city to get a job in the field that I want, and that will probably have to happen in the next couple years,” she said. “Since being here a year, I decided the only way I will probably get hired in the sports field is with a master’s degree. I am going to take steps to get that done in the next two years and reach my five-year goals.”
