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College graduates next May will face better job prospects than students last year as large corporations end hiring freezes, small businesses reshape the economy and employers become more confident they can safely expand, according to a report on national hiring practices by researchers at Michigan State University.

The Recruiting Trends 2010-2011 survey, released November 17, found that overall hiring is expected to grow by 3 percent over last year to provide 122,000 opportunities for graduates across all degree levels.

In fact, nearly 72 percent of those positions could be filled at the bachelor's degree level alone, as the entire college labor market is leveraged by an expected 10 percent increase in the hiring of those degree holders, the survey of 4,600 employers says.

"The market for new college grads took a positive step forward with this increase," said Phil Gardner, director of the university's Collegiate Employment Research Institute.

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But before letting the good news sink in, he warned students to remain vigilant, as the "jump is superficial and does not run deep."

The reason: It's not the majority of employers hiring more, but rather a contingent of approximately 350 to 400 larger companies looking to fill positions and smaller, fast-growing businesses creating new ones.

Thirty-two percent of respondents acknowledged definitive plans to hire graduates, representing a mild improvement over 27 percent last year, but 13 percent said they wouldn't.

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