If finding a job after being away at school wasn’t already hard enough, Kaua‘i’s high unemployment rates and minimal job vacancies are making it increasingly difficult for college students to solidify summer jobs.

The state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations reported a 9.7 percent unemployment rate on Kaua‘i for April, up 6.6 percent from a year ago. Only Moloka’i, with a rate of 14.1 percent, had a higher unemployment rate in the month and Kaua‘i was well above the state average of 6.9 percent.

Christine Yotsuda, an 18-year-old Wailua resident, just completed her freshman year at Azusa Pacific University in Southern California. Since coming home at the beginning of May she has completed three job applications; none have resulted in being hired.

“I feel guilty every day,” Yotsuda said of her private college’s expensive tuition. “It’s already getting hard to pay for school, I don’t want to have to ask my parents for any spending money.”

Lauren Esaki, a sophomore at the University of Southern California, is spending her summer break completing an internship in conservation work at Waipa. Her internship includes a stipend, which she plans to put in a savings account.

“My family has a college fund for me, but I should at least earn some money for school,” Esaki said. “Sometimes I feel guilty about how much my education costs, but hopefully it will pay off.”

Increasing tuition and tight budgets have already impacted the college education of some residents.

Dominique Bartolo, an 18-year-old living in Wailua House Lots, will transfer to the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa this fall after just one year at the University of San Diego.

“Money was definitely the major reason I decided to transfer to UH,” she said.

Bartolo is working as a recreation aide at Wilcox Elementary School’s Summer Enrichment Program, a position she believes she got because she planned ahead.

“I applied far in advance, months ago,” Bartolo said. “Almost all the money I make this summer will go to buying books and paying bills while at school next year.”

Ryan Markham, spokesman for the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, said a decrease in tourism has played a big part in Kaua‘i’s high unemployment rates.

“A lot of Kaua‘i’s seasonal jobs are based around the tourism industry,” Markham said. “The decrease in tourism makes it more difficult to get a summer job at hotels or other businesses in the tourism industry.”

The loss of jobs results in a more qualified group of unemployed workers, he added, making it harder for a college student without a degree to secure a job.

“College students are competing with people who would otherwise not be out of a job,” Markham said. “The added competition along with the permanence of hiring someone who will be here full time works against a college student.”

Markham said the recovering has begun, but unemployment rates on the island could continue to rise for another 12 months.

“We are paying out a lot of unemployment money to the people of Kaua‘i,” Markham said. “But businesses will want to see sustained improvement in spending before hiring.”