Students graduating this year will once again face a bleak job market, according to a May 2003 report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

The report said job prospects will be no worse than they were last year, but the market is still weaker than it was when most soon-to-be graduates originally enrolled in college.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers reported a 36 percent drop in corporate hiring from 2001 to 2002, and according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of unemployed workers between the ages of 20 and 24 is 1.4 million, up 60 percent from four years ago.

Recent Iowa State graduates are feeling the effects of the poor economy.

Kylie Stemple graduated from Iowa State last May with a degree in art and design. She said she hoped her emphasis in art history would land her a museum job and she applied for at least 25 positions in the field.

“I applied to places in cities that I don’t even want to live,” Stemple said. “Museum work is kind of specific, so I only applied for jobs that I knew had openings.”

Stemple is currently employed full-time as a florist at Mary Kay’s Flowers, 3134 Northwood Dr., the same job she held part-time while in college. Stemple has looked into graduate school and said she will eventually apply for more museum work, but says she is in no hurry since she is currently employed.

“I’m lucky because I really enjoy the job I do have,” she said.

Many graduates have decided to continue their education at graduate schools instead of facing the bleak job market. Marc Harding, ISU director of admissions, said the university is seeing an increase in graduate school applicants.

“There is a direct correlation between the economy and graduate school applications nationwide,” he said.

Harding said the state of Iowa is no exception.

“[The University of Northern Iowa] and [the University of] Iowa’s graduate school applications are up, just as Iowa State’s are,” he said.

According to the report by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, enrollment in graduate schools went up by 5 percent in 2002 and is expected to rise even higher this fall.

Nancy Gebhart, senior in art and design, plans to graduate in December.

“I am planning on going to graduate school next fall only because I won’t be able to get a job in my field if I don’t have a master’s degree or higher,” Gebhart said. “I’m not worried about getting a job for that eight-month period because I am planning on going back to school.”

Once students have made the decision to continue their education instead of entering the job market, there is no guarantee they will be accepted to the schools where they apply.

ISU alumna Lisa Lancaster applied to four different schools after earning her bachelor’s degree in psychology. She was not accepted to any of the schools.

“With [psychology], I knew that I would have to go to grad school to do anything with the major,” Lancaster said. “For clinical psychology, around 400 apply to the program and only four are chosen.”

Lancaster is currently working at an audiology office and is planning to reapply to graduate schools in the spring. She said the job she holds right now is one that requires no college education.

“It really sucks applying to jobs you don’t need a degree for,” Lancaster said. “It’s really frustrating.”

Even though the job market is rough right now, there are success stories. Alumni Bryan Knudson graduated last December with a marketing degree and found a job as a financial adviser at American Express.

“I searched for two and a half to three months,” Knudson said. “I probably sent out 80 to 100 resumes.”

Although it wasn’t what he pictured his career to be, Knudson said his job is a “great experience.”

“[My job is] teaching me things that I’m going to find resourceful down the line,” Knudson said.