While job prospects for new graduates are extremely low, a new report found that students who opted for internships during their college career fared better than those who did not. Visit http://www.experience.com to learn more about internships.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers' 2009 Student Survey found that only 19.7 percent of graduates from the class of 2009 who applied for jobs had one by the end of April. Of those, about 23 percent of graduates with internship experience had a job, while only 14 percent of students without internship experience managed to find work.

"It’s not surprising that employers look first to their interns - who have a track record with the company - when they have jobs to fill," NACE Executive Director Marilyn Mackes said.

The survey further found that more than 50 percent of college seniors who responded to the report had internship experience, but less than 25 percent of them received job offers from the organization they interned with.

"The Class of 2009 saw significant cuts in hiring, and even an internship is not a guarantee of a job offer," Mackes added. "However, the numbers show that, especially in a tough job market, the student who has an internship has a distinct advantage over students who don’t have that experience."

More than 35,000 students representing more than 840 colleges and universities throughout the country took part in the survey, which was conducted between February 19 and April 30. Of those students, 16,500 were graduating seniors.

The major reason students are having trouble finding work - internship experience or not - is the state of the national economy. During September, the country lost 263,000 jobs while the unemployment rate increased to 9.8 percent.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of unemployed people in America has increased by 7.6 million to 15.1 million since the recession began in December 2007, and the unemployment rate has doubled to reach its current rate.