Fear of "brain drain," or the flight of educated residents from a city or state, is an obsession of nearly every civic leader around the country. This fear even affects Silicon Valley. Post-industrial cities and those that have struggled to grow in population and jobs often are especially concerned. But as I found in my recent Manhattan Institute study "Brain Gain in America's Shrinking Cities," these fears are overblown.
Consider Syracuse. From 2000 to 2013, the region experienced anemic population growth and actually lost jobs. Yet it gained nearly 27,000 residents with college degrees and its educational attainment rate grew significantly. The region is, in fact, experiencing a strong brain gain.
This is hardly unusual. The country as a whole has gained people with college degrees. Younger generations are more educated than older ones, so as time goes by, the country's college degree attainment rate is rising. Syracuse, however, basically held its own in growth and is actually slightly better educated than the country as a whole.
“Would it be better for either the school or town for Joe Biden to be practicing law in Syracuse instead living in Washington as vice president? I don't think so...”
Looking at younger adults in the 25-34 age bracket, Syracuse did even better, adding over 6,000 new residents with degrees and outperforming the country as a whole. While I did not examine the specific underlying drivers of Syracuse's brain gain, it is not hard to speculate that having a major university has helped.
Universities are factories for producing college degrees. ... Their very nature is to export their products.
Speaking of which: Cities with a large university presence face another problem with the entire concept of brain drain as currently framed. Universities are factories for producing college degrees. Like any factory, their very nature is to export their products. While some students may remain post-graduation, realistically most won't.
“The fact that its graduates are in demand around the world is evidence of Syracuse University's quality, which itself has benefits to the community.”
And it's doubtful whether they even should. The reputation of a university is made by the quality of its research, but also but the things its graduates accomplish in the world at large. The fact that its graduates are in demand around the world is evidence of Syracuse University's quality, which itself has benefits to the community. It would not be in the best interest of the school or the community if too high a percentage of its graduates stayed in town.
Would it be better for either the school or town for Joe Biden to be practicing law in Syracuse instead living in Washington as vice president? I don't think so, and it's the same for the many other distinguished alumni of that institution alone who have done great things all over the world.
Schools that educate students mostly for the local market are generally state university regional campuses or community colleges. These are important institutions, to be sure. But communities also benefit from large research universities that export degrees.
This is not to say that talent attraction is not important to cities. It is. But fears of a massive brain drain are overblown in many of these larger regions. What's more, talent attraction is hardly the sole challenge they face. Others include creating inclusive opportunities for economic growth, fiscal challenges, infrastructure repair, etc. These are where Upstate New York has struggled.
Local and regional leaders should properly balance these concerns and not devote excessive resources or too much time and attention to fears about brain drain. In the case of Syracuse, Mayor Stephanie Miner's focus on infrastructure repair in her "Syracuse Billion" plan is a good example of the right kind of thinking. Syracuse, like many similar regions, is actually experiencing brain gain, not brain drain—and should act like it.
This piece originally appeared in Syracuse.com