Dr. Ravi Perry: Worcester Needs to Keep Its College Graduates in the City

Email to a friend Permalink

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

According to a new Brookings Institution study, http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/05/31/us/education-in-metro-areas.html)" target="_blank">Worcester ranks 25th in a list of the top 100 metropolitan areas in the country who have the most college educated residents. According to the findings, Worcester's percentage of residents in 1970 with a college degree was 8.9%, and in 2010, was 32.7%, a 23.8% increase over forty years. For Worcester, the city's percent change in the number of college educated residents ranks 7th.

Now, that's impressive. In other words, among the nations top 100 metro areas as ranked by the number of college educated residents in 2010, Worcester ranks 7th in terms of their growth in that number over the past 40 years.

This is astonishing good news. However, we can't thank the city leadership for these numbers, because there's no data on how many of the area's residents actually live or work in Worcester. There is also no data on how many of area college graduates have opportunities to stay in Worcester after graduating from one of the area's many great colleges and universities.

Based on the Brookings Institution data it seems Worcester's strength among the nation's metro areas in terms of college educated residents is accidental. Other cities, such as Toledo, OH, that admittedly are ranked lower in the report, have long had public efforts from the city to encourage the retention of the area's college graduates.

But, we can do better. Particularly given that we live and work in the state with the largest number of college educated residents, our ranking of 25th out of 100 should arguably be considerably higher. Yes, we're fortunate to be ranked so highly, but there's no reason why it should not be a goal of the city leadership to be ranked 1st.

The benefits of having a significant percentage of college educated residents are many. According to the Brookings Institution, those benefits include a higher tax base, longer life expectancy, fewer single parent headed households, and higher incomes, to name a few.

While this report is encouraging, we should also be asking where is the city leadership's plan to build upon these numbers? What is the strategic initiative to invest in our city by investing in our young people? Is it a priority with serious devoted resources to help the city move up in the rankings and not down?

Simply put, is there, what some cities have long initiated, a "brain-drain" initiative to boost our standing?

These are the types of questions and funding sources that should have been in the City Manager's budget last week as presented to city council. However, the questions weren't asked and the budget was seemingly approved without much deliberation, discussion, or participation from area residents.

We've got a serious opportunity to move up from 25th in the rankings of metro areas with a significant college educated population, and as a city in transition from a manufacturing-based economy, to a "something-else" based economy, we'd better take advantage of the opportunity soon.

As the saying goes, we should strike while the iron's hot. The data shows the issue is "hot" now and there's better time than the present to make Worcester a truly "college-town." The benefits are plenty?

Where's the plan???

Related Articles

• Dr. Ravi Perry: Why Worcester Must Adopt “Plan A”
• Dr. Ravi Perry: Worcester Needs More Transparency in City Hall
• Dr. Ravi Perry: Worcester City Manager’s Budget Priorities
• Dr. Ravi Perry: Who’s Fighting Discrimination in Worcester

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

Email to a friend Permalink