Sorry, parents of soon-to-be college graduates, but it might be time to start making plans for your child’s return home.

Job prospects for new graduates are about the same as or only slightly better than they were last year, according to a Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. survey. But if job prospects are the same, that still means there is about an 80 percent chance your son or daughter will be moving back home in May.

A report by CollegeGrad.com found that 80 percent of 2009 U.S. college graduates moved home after graduation, up from 77 percent in 2008, 73 percent in 2007 and 67 percent in 2006.

“The percentage of graduates returning home could reach even higher this year, as new graduates compete with last year’s graduates and other more experienced job seekers for available positions,” said John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. “We may even see young people who have been out of school for two or three years and had jobs and apartments returning home following a layoff.”

The survey found that half of the human resources executives polled said the job outlook was unchanged, and 28 percent said the outlook was slightly better than a year ago. Just 13 percent said the job market is much better than 2009.

“Last year was an extremely tight job market for entry-level candidates,” Challenger said. “Even if this year is slightly better, the competition for available jobs will remain fierce.”

Approximately 2.4 million 2010 graduates will enter the job market this spring and compete for the approximately 2.7 million available positions, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But they’ll also be competing against the approximately 15 million currently unemployed Americans. That gives the unemployed and 2.4 million new job seekers about a 15 percent chance of landing a job, not taking into account the fact that college graduates might have fewer marketable skills.

“This is not to say that soon-to-be graduates should give up hope. There are opportunities out there, but entry-level job seekers will have to dig for them,” Challenger said.