HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: 2014 Grads Are Optimistic About Their Prospects; Businesses Not So Much. “A recent Gallup-Lumina survey found that a scant 11% of employers strongly agreed that educational institutions were graduating students with the skills and competencies their particular business required and a further 17% strongly disagreed with that statement. The general public also has doubts about how prepared grads are for the challenges of working life. A 2012 Gallup survey found that only 54% of Americans felt that college grads are at least somewhat ready to tackle on-the-job responsibilities.” And yet college costs keep climbing.