Columbus shows gains in keeping college graduates
Brookings Institution report indicates a turnaround
The Columbus Dispatch
Columbus might not be shedding college graduates like it had in previous years, and that bodes well for a city that has struggled to keep its best and brightest.
A Brookings Institution study released this month shows that metropolitan Columbus gained residents 25 and older with college degrees at a rate of 0.16 percent between 2007 and 2009.
That's a marked turnaround from the previous three years, when Columbus lost those residents at a 0.23 percent rate.
Brookings demographer William H. Frey reviewed data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey and wrote that the poor economy had a lot to do with an overall national trend of people staying put.
Bill LaFayette, chief economist for the Columbus Chamber, said that some college grads might not be able to move because their houses lost value.
"If you have a house under water, it sort of ties you to a place," he said.
Officials have created several efforts to keep college graduates here.
That includes Compete Columbus, formed by the chamber and the Columbus Partnership to focus on growing certain industries, including health care and logistics, and Grants for Grads, a state programs offering home-buying incentives for recent college graduates.
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