With the cost of education constantly increasing, Iowa State seniors may be wondering if they will find jobs after their college careers to help them pay off financial aid debts.

A recent study conducted by Nellie Maw of the National Student Loan Survey reported that 47 percent of four-year college students are bearing significant burdens due to student loans.

However, with the economy in relatively good shape, most seniors said they are confident in the job market.

“I would say most seniors are confident because there are quite a bit of opportunities out there,” said Jake Johnson, senior in computer engineering.

“There are a lot of hirings going on, and there is very low unemployment,” he said.

Jobs in some fields may be hard to come by for some students, said Vesselina Ivanova, graduate student in biochemistry.

“It doesn’t look too bad, but in the last months there had been a job freeze in the market of bio-chem,” Vesselina said.

However, jobs look to be plentiful in technology fields, according to ISU students.

“I’m still kind of looking for a job in the computer industry,” Johnson said. “I went to the Career Fair this week, and there was not a shortage of computer-related jobs.

“I am very confident that I will have a job when I graduate in May,” he said.

It’s getting down to the wire for some students who plan on graduating this year.

“Everybody is a little nervous. You could call it crunch time, and it is getting toward the end of the line,” said Jayson Nelson, senior in entrepreneurial strategies.

“You are almost done with college, and you need to get out there and start making a living,” he said.

Vesselina said getting a job after graduation also depends on the type of degree, education and experience a student has when he or she graduates.

“Overall, the opinion of people looking for jobs is not very good [in bio-chem],” she said.

Internships and summer jobs also are important in the hiring process.

Sometimes companies end up hiring students who worked as interns for them.

Nelson said students need to be outgoing, so that they will get noticed when looking for a job.

“Just get your name out there and get to know some of the companies,” he said.

“I had an internship with College Pro Painters, and they mentioned that they will probably offer me a job,” Nelson said.