Understanding The Brain-Drain From The Capital District Of New York State

Abstract

The Capital District Region of New York State, home to twenty-five colleges and universities with a combined 14,000 students per year is attempting to leverage this educational resource to transform its economy away from its traditional government services, industrial, and manufacturing base towards high-technology.  Millions of dollars have been invested to develop the infrastructure necessary to have economic growth fueled by high-technology.  However, many of these highly skilled college graduates leave the area.  This exodus, or brain drain, is a major concern for regional economic developers and policy-makers because the social and economic vitality of a region is at risk.  For the high-tech industry to be successful in any region there must be complementary support industries and services.  Therefore, the retention of college graduates in various fields, not just those in technology disciplines, of study is vital for regional economic development.  Due to the considerable threat that the brain drain poses for a region in terms of social and economic vitality, one must have a complete understanding of the problem before attempting to correct it.  This study will answer the following questions: (1) How big is brain drain from the region; (2) What are the characteristics of the graduates who leave the region; (3) What are the differences between the graduates that stay in the region and those that leave; and (4) What factors can be changed to increase the probability of retaining graduates?