Title: Understanding U.S. College Graduate Migration

Speaker: Assistant Professor Heather Stephens, West Virginia University

Time: May 31st 2016, 09:30–11:30

Venue: Room 102, Zhonghui Building (College of Economics, JNU)

Abstract: 

Previous research has shown that understanding the migration habits of college graduates is important because there is evidence of a link between human capital, proxied by an educated workforce, and growth. For U.S. regions that were hard hit by the recession and the ongoing restructuring of the economy, finding and attracting educated workers will be important to their long term recovery. However, while a number of papers have investigated the motivations for migration by college graduates in other countries or between U.S. states, few studies have examined U.S. college graduate migration at the regional level.  To understand the post-graduation location decisions of recent U.S. college graduates, we surveyed graduates of California State University, Long Beach, a large, state-supported university in the nation’s second largest metropolitan area, a region that has been hard hit by the recession. Using multinomial logic, we modeled their choice of location post-graduation. Preliminary results suggest that amenities play a strong role in where they choose to locate and that being more connected to the local area while enrolled in school can help retain students post-graduation.