N.E. struggling to keep recent college graduates

The supply of recent college graduates in New England is growing more slowly than in every other U.S. region, even though the Northeast is home to a large number of renowned schools churning out students every year.
That’s the finding of a New England Public Policy Center study, which blames the slow growth on both a low birth rate in the region and the area’s inability to keep graduates originally from other parts of the country – with no roots here – from moving away to find jobs.
The report, released last month, said that while the number of recent college graduates grew 16.7 percent nationwide from 2000 to 2006, the growth rate in New England during the same time period was 8.7 percent. That’s an improvement over the previous decade, when nationally the number of recent college grads grew 6.9 percent from 1990 to 2000, but declined in New England by 11.3 percent. The study defines recent graduates as those aged 22 to 27 with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
For Rhode Island, the population of recent graduates declined 7.3 percent in the 1990s – from 22,412 to 20,785 – then climbed by 2.3 percent to 21,267 from 2000 to 2006.
By comparison, the number of recent graduates in Massachusetts grew only 0.2 percent between 2000 and 2006 to 185,261 (from 184,904); Connecticut’s grew 20.3 percent to 78,841(from 65,556); and New Hampshire’s jumped 42.8 percent to 28,219 (from 19,762).
These numbers are critical to the local business community, in light of Rhode Island’s overall flat population figures and companies’ laments that the state’s work force lacks a deep talent pool.
Laurie White, president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, said the topic of persuading graduates to stay in Rhode Island will be addressed in recommendations business leaders are set to release this month on the state’s move to a knowledge-based economy.
“This is going to be front and center,” White said recently.
At least one recommendation will stress the need for giving college students professional opportunities before they graduate, giving them a foot in the door that might be enough to persuade them to stay.
“There is a very fragile period during the senior year in college where the potential graduates wonders what they are going to do after graduation,” White said. “The key is to get them right at that moment.”
The Chamber, in collaboration with the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Rhode Island, is starting work on a Web portal that will assist college students in finding internships, mentors and other job-related programs, White said.
The study from the New England Public Policy Center, part of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, makes it clear that several factors are working against officials in Rhode Island and elsewhere in New England attempting to retain more graduates.
The birth rate during the 1970s and ’80s was lower in the region than the rest of the country, leaving fewer college-age children two decades later.
At the same time, New England high-quality colleges and universities attract a higher percentage of students from outside the region, including internationally. Those students are more willing to move after graduation.
And the study found that the graduates’ reasons for leaving New England were mostly job-related, not cold winters, higher costs of living or difficulty finding affordable housing.
But the study’s findings are not an indication of a “brain drain” in the state, insisted Daniel Egan, president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Rhode Island.
On the contrary, Egan said, the report noted that more new students are arriving in the region than the number of graduates who are leaving. “The migration of incoming students every year is a ‘brain gain’ for the state,” said Egan, whose group represents the state’s eight independent colleges. “They work part-time jobs, they do internships.”
That’s one of Rhode Island’s strong points, said Saul Kaplan, executive director of the R.I. Economic Development Corporation. “The good news is we have the talent here in the first place in such density,” he said.
Still, Kaplan said, the study illustrates the need for Rhode Island to accelerate its move to a knowledge-based, higher-wage economy that could create the type of jobs that could keep more graduates here. &#8226