Rutgers students embrace the hardships of working in the restaurant industry and balancing a college workload because it’s their only choice.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Many students employed by the restaurant industry face the harsh reality of working a demanding schedule while balancing a college workload.

Many restaurants thrive by staying open until the late night. Unfortunately for their workforce, a percentage of which is students, the late hours are exhausting.

A few recent college graduates share their reasons for avoiding graduate school

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- It's no longer breaking news that a bachelor's degree is the new standard for employment. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, higher education enrollment jumped by 39 percent from 1999 to 2009. Record numbers of young adults are working to obtain a college education, guided by the common belief that, given the state of the economy, a more advanced degree would give them a competitive edge.

Now that an undergraduate degree no longer offers the competitive edge it once did, this average college graduate casts their eyes on graduate school. Post undergraduate programs, therefore, have seen an astounding 49.5 percent increase in enrollment over the same time period, from 1999 to 2009. Surely, in some cases a more advanced degree provides the solution. Is it possible, though, that this perpetual student in the making is just avoiding the inevitable: joining the workforce and starting from scratch?

Some recent and prospective graduates are taking matters into their own hands, and leaving the classroom for valuable, hands-on experience.