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HANCOCK -- Finlandia University's graduation ceremony was bittersweet.  Students were happy to finish school, but nervous about the lack of jobs available to them.

Prior to the recession, the prominent nursing department could easily help their graduates find jobs.  They say this year has been the toughest for placement.

"It was definitely a lot more challenging than I expected.  Even nursing's most likely to succeed," said Amy Messer, who had trouble finding a job.  Eventually she did, but far away from home.

"I definitely had to apply at a lot of different places, and I'm actually moving out of state to find work," she said.  She's moving to North Dakota to work at a long-term care facility.

Another nursing graduate, Ellen Bonzell, is determined to stay local.  She says it's harder to find a job in the U.P. today than ever before.

"I think that locally, the nursing market isn't really prospering," said Bonzell.  "A lot of nurses here are just staying set because the economy is so bad.  In other places, they have more opportunity to move and bigger cities with more jobs."

Commencement speaker, Bishop Alex Malasusa of Tanzania, helps run an exchange program with students at Finlandia University and students in Tanzania.  He told students that they are the key to repairing the economy.

"The community and the people are expecting a lot from them," said Bishop Malasusa.  "I want them really to see and practice how are they going to help."

But there is hope--the National Association of Colleges and Employers reports that today has the best hiring outlook since October 2008.  Their findings show that employers expect to hire 5.3 percent more new college graduates in 2010 than in 2009.