Although finding a job may be tough for some students graduating next Friday from the Terry College of Business’s Masters in Business Administration program, for about 30 percent of the class the odds could be even worse.

Of the 123 students in the program, 37 are international non-residents studying at the University with student visas.

For these students, staying in the United States after graduation means they must either find an employer who will sponsor a work visa or get permission from the government to remain temporarily in the country.

If a company decides to hire a student, it also must convince the government there is no other qualified U.S. citizen who can take the job.

Another problem is that the federal government ceased issuing work visas to companies in March and will issue no more until October.

Mel Crask, director of Terry’s full-time MBA program, said the only way a company could hire an international student now would be on a temporary status and hope they could get a visa in six months.

“They’re spending a lot of money and there’s a lot of risk involved (with hiring the students) and they’re not willing to do it,” he said.

Non-profit companies, however, are not limited in how many international workers they can hire.

“The irony is that when these students apply for a student visa, they are asked if they plan to stay in the United States, they say ‘no,’ because if they say ‘yes,’ they are not given visas,” he said.

Silvije Barisic, a graduating MBA student from Croatia, said he will look for a job in his home country or another country if he cannot get a job in the United States.

“The international students have always known that they are supposed to go back after they finish their studying,” he said. “But obviously, some get hired and do really well.”

Last year, only 44 percent of international students in the program had found a job by graduation, compared to 67 percent of domestic students, Crask said.

For close to 40 years, MBA degrees earned in the United States have been internationally associated with business expertise, Crask said.

In 2003, 50 percent of students applying to Terry’s full-time MBA program were international.

“A lot of students want to get that degree here so they can have the status in their home country. An equal am-ount want to get the degree here and stay,” Crask said.

One of the reasons applications to the program are down this year is because the federal government has been more discerning in choosing which students get visas, he said.

“Some students who are admitted can’t even get a visa to come here,” Crask said. “A lot are going to Europe or other places to get an MBA.”

An additional way for these students to stay in the United States is to enroll in another graduate program.

Pelin Atahan, a 2003 graduate of the Terry MBA program, looked for a job for several months before deciding to pursue a doctorate degree.

“I was told by one of my professors that it’s better to have more work experience first since I’d be teaching business students,” said Atahan, a Turkish citizen.

Crask said the Terry College offers career counseling for all of its MBAs, but cannot help the students in any other way.