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At Bank Street College of Education, the students wonder if they'll ever be teachers.

"They thought teaching would be recession proof, which it isn't this recession," said Bank Street College of Education Dean Jon Snyder.

The city boasts several of the nation's top graduate schools of education, and they've served as pipelines of new talent into city schools. But now the school system isn't hiring, and the future of the profession has become a political hot potato. Teachers-in-training are nervous.

"If you read each day in the newspaper that teachers are overpaid and it's pensions that are causing the problems and nobody's learning, they feel beat up," said Snyder. "I think they are not questioning their commitment to kids but they are questioning whether this is the kind of profession they thought they were getting themselves into."

As a result, education schools are steering graduates in new directions.

"Our advice to them and how we're trying to support them is very different than it's been historically," Snyder said.

"We are seeing an increase in recruiters coming to Teachers College from other cities: San Francisco, Houston, Chicago, LA Unified School District," said Columbia Teachers College Director of Admissions Thomas Rock.

Students too say they are changing their expectations.

There's nothing for me in public schools and so charter schools are my next focus and they are hiring and they do need teachers and there are new schools forming," said Bank Street College of Education Student Kate Clute.

"I think last year was the first time that not everyone got a job, and now more and more it's part time. And regarding internships to prepare us, a lot of them are taking away their budget for being paid. So it's fulltime work, for a full school year and you don't get paid at all," said Columbia Teachers College Student Aura Abing.

Education schools who spoke with NY1 say the grim outlook hasn't hurt their admissions numbers. At Columbia Teachers College, there's been a substantial uptick in applicants this year, especially for degrees in education policy.

"We're really seeing such enthusiasm and interest and passion for this field. I don't think you can pick up a newspaper today in the country without reading something about the field of education. It's an incredibly exciting time" Rock said.

While the political climate and budget outlook make it an unnerving time for teachers, university officials say students who want to influence public policy are increasingly looking to study education.