State Retention of the “Best and Brightest”? An Examination of the Variation in Mobility Tendencies for College Students by Academic Profiles

• In Event: Roundtable Session 4
  In Roundtable Session: Postsecondary Student Mobility Policies and Practices

Abstract

The college-workforce transition is to a great extent an understudied topic as students have not been followed after college completion. Relying on a nationally representative longitudinal sample, we analyzed the effect of out-of-state college status and academic achievement on student mobility patterns approximately five years after college completion. There are two major findings: 1) regardless of residency status, highest achieving students are the most mobile, and 2) in-state students tend to stay and work in state after graduation. If the goal is to retain college graduates, then merit based and other policies should focus their support on in-state students and expand it beyond only the highest achieving to include those who are more likely to stay and work in state.

Authors

• Manuel S. Gonzalez Canche, University of Georgia

• Denisa Gandara, University of Georgia - Athens

• Lucia Brajkovic, University of Georgia - Athens

• Jeffrey Harding, University of Georgia - Athens

• Jonathan Turk, University of Georgia