Degree holders crowding N.C. colleges.

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- Many North Carolinians with degrees are returning to community colleges to further their education, largely the result of majoring in a subject that doesn't bode well in today's job market, officials said.

"If someone has a degree in something that's not really marketable, they can assure themselves a job in the health fields," said Marc Williams, coordinator of counseling at Guilford Technical Community College.

He estimates that about half the students at the college have degrees in areas that aren't highly marketable.

In 2006, nearly 11,000 students who sought an associate degree or diploma at a state community college had a bachelor's degree. More than 2,500 community college students had a master's degree or higher, according to state figures.

Blake Woodruff earned a bachelor's degree in classics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He later earned a master's degree from Pennsylvania's Bryn Mawr College.

Then he decided he didn't want to become a teacher.

"Not being an academic, if you have an archaeology degree, it's a little hard to get work," said Woodruff, of Winston-Salem.

He enrolled at the college and found that its graphic design program fit well with his art background.

"I've always been in the arts, and I've been looking at objects and pieces of art," he said. "That directly applies to the program that I'm in right now. It overlaps pretty well."