Companies plan to hire more recent college graduates this year and pay them better, according to a CareerBuilder survey released today. Of employers surveyed, 65% said they plan to hire recent college graduates this year, up from 57% last year and the highest outlook since 2007. One third will offer higher pay than last year, and one quarter will pay $50,000 or more.

“New college graduates have better prospects this year than in years past — both in terms of opportunities and salary offers,” said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer of CareerBuilder. “They still face challenges, however. One in five employers feel colleges do not adequately prepare students with crucial workplace competencies, including soft skills and real-world experience that might be gained through things like internships. Job seekers with a good mix of both technical and soft skills will have the best prospects right out of college.”

Business majors ranked as the most sought-after major, named by 38% of employers. Other in-demand majors include:

• Computer and information sciences: 27%
• Engineering: 18%
• Math and Statistics: 14%
• Health professions and related clinical sciences: 14%
• Communications technologies: 12%
• Engineering technologies: 12%
• Communication and journalism: 10%
• Liberal arts and sciences, general studies and humanities: 9%
• Science technologies: 8%
• Education: 7%

Information technology at 30% and customer service jobs at 28% topped the list of position types hiring managers are primarily looking to fill. Finance/accounting, sales and business development followed at 22%, 21% and 19% respectively.

The survey found 33% of employers who plan to hire recent college graduates will offer higher starting salaries than they did last year. More than half, 57%, expect no change in salary offers, and 10% expect a decrease in starting salaries. Nearly half of employers, 48%, said they will make offers to students before they graduate and the majority of employers, 65%, said they are willing to negotiate salary offers.

The survey was conducted online in the US by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,175 hiring and human resource managers. The survey was conducted between Feb. 11 and March 6, 2015.