Students look at graduate school as a way to get a full-time job. (Erika Lopez/Borderzine.com)

It seems harder today to make a college degree pay off

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EL PASO – Josie Jimarez Howard imagined herself surrounded by artifacts from fascinating distant epochs as she pursued her passion for history tending to treasures in a museum after earning a degree in history from Reed College. But instead, she found herself selling modern cosmetics at Macy’s. She soon realized that the only way to get the job she wanted related to her studies was to go back to school for a graduate degree. “I think a lot of jobs teaching in the museum require a higher degree than a B.A. I looked for jobs at museums but during the Bush administration there weren’t as many.”

Howard, who had graduated in 2007, enrolled in graduate school at the University of Texas at El Paso in 2011 and is currently a teaching assistant for a freshman history class. “Honestly, it’s been hard.

The Texas Veteran Commision offices in El Paso where veterans can look for jobs and education. (William Blackburn/Borderzine.com)

Local organizations help military veterans find work

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EL PASO – Veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq come home to face physical and emotional problems, but their biggest challenge may be the transition from military service to a job in civilian life. Along with the trauma of war, they left behind the security of a monthly paycheck to face the new uncertainty of a stagnant economy with little job growth. Navy veteran Danny Macias who left the military in 1994 has been working in construction but was laid off from a job in June and hasn’t found new work.  “Finding a job is hard” he said. The Army Career and Alumni Program (ACAP) at Fort Bliss was set up to help veterans transition to civilian life. Randy Stovall, Transition Services Manager, said the program’s main goal is to prepare soldiers to market themselves for employment.

Borrowers without alternatives fall prey to predatory lenders

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EL PASO, Texas — Payday lending seems to be the only recourse for many people with no credit or damaged credit needing financial assistance in this rough economy. Many people find it hard to pay all their bills when their work hours are cut and they find themselves without cash. They have to turn to payday lenders. People with good credit normally just go to the local bank and ask for a routine signature loan. However, even for them, getting a loan is not easy anymore.