Employers responding to NACE's Job Outlook 2005 Spring Update survey confirmed hiring projections they gave earlier in the 2004-05 academic year.

"We've polled employers about their hiring projections throughout the academic year, and they have consistently reported plans to increase their college hires by about 13 percent," said Camille Luckenbaugh, NACE research director.

Overall, 61.4 percent of respondents expect to hire more new college graduates in 2004-05 than they hired in 2003-04. This is also a positive sign, according to Luckenbaugh. "In comparison, in 2003-04, just a little more than half of employers expected to increase their college hiring," she says.

Service sector employers project the most positive hiring picture: On average, they plan to hire 13.9 percent more new college graduates in 2004-05 than they did in 2003-04. Manufacturers paint a similarly positive picture: On average, they plan to hire 13.4 percent more graduates this year than they did in 2003-04. In the government/nonprofit sector, the "good news" is actually that there appears to be less bad news. Government/nonprofit employers report just a slight increase of 0.9 percent in their 2004-05 college graduate hiring, but this is positive movement from 2003-04 when they cut college hiring by 4.5 percent.

By region, employers in the Midwest predict the biggest increase, projecting college hiring to increase by 15.1 percent over 2003-04 levels. Employers in the West and Northeast report similar increases in their college hiring. Respondents from the West expect a 13.9 percent increase, and their counterparts in the Northeast expect a 13.3 percent increase. Southern employers report plans to increase college hiring by 8.9 percent.

"On the surface, projections from the South may seem less positive, but there are other factors to consider," says Luckenbaugh. "For example, among the regions, the South boasts the largest percentage of employers that plan to increase hiring. Two-thirds (66.2 percent) of respondents in the South plan to increase college hiring, while 63.3 percent of respondents in the Midwest, 58.6 percent of respondents in the West, and 50 percent of Northeastern respondents report such plans."

Given the positive hiring projections, it's not surprising that more than three-quarters (75.2 percent) of employers reported that competition for hiring new college graduates has increased over the last year.

"We've seen evidence of increased competition in terms of starting salary offers," says Luckenbaugh. "About half of employers told us that they had raised or would be raising their starting salaries, and we've seen average starting salary offers rise this year in a number of disciplines."

In addition, although NACE did not survey on the subject this year, Luckenbaugh says historically about 45 percent of the class will have jobs at the time they graduate. "We've seen this figure in 1993, 1997, and 2004," she says. "Our studies also show that within six or seven months following graduation, about three-quarters of new grads will have gotten jobs and about 20 percent will have opted for graduate school or additional education. What our Job Outlook Spring Update study shows us is that there will be more opportunities out there for new grads to choose from this year."

And there are signs that competition will carry over to next year's class of college graduates.

"It's early, but signs are positive for the next class of college graduates," says Luckenbaugh. "For example, almost 36 percent of employers said they are already planning to hire more new grads for full-time entry-level positions in the Fall of 2005 than they did in the Fall of 2004."

NACE will poll employers about hiring for the college Class of 2006 in late summer and will report results in early September.

Visit the NACE Web site at http://www.naceweb.org