Wisconsin is hemorrhaging 20-somethings and struggling to keep young talent at home. These bright, goal oriented, ambitious college graduates are taking their fresh ideas, talents and top-notch education abroad. Many of them seemingly view their diploma as a ticket to leave the state. The concern is that we are losing more graduates than we’re retaining. It’s an epidemic known as the Wisconsin brain drain.
The hustle and bustle of life as a college student, struggling to maintain and achieve, is to be expected. Longing to reap the benefits of the “promised land” flowing with “milk and honey” is the reward. College grads are determined to utilize the interpersonal skills and knowledge they’ve accrued during their college tenure, and show the world what they’re made of.
The sad thing is Wisconsin is not providing graduates the opportunity to spread their “wings” and “fly.” The awesome accomplishment of earning a degree in many cases has proven to be a nearly useless weapon to strike out opponents. It seems there’s merely just not enough to go around and the financial benefits and exciting high-paying careers are either scarce or non-existent.
Many days I ponder finishing up my Interior Design degree and fleeing the state of Wisconsin. The statistics of a young mother with high hopes and aspirations of becoming a successful designer in Milwaukee do not look promising. I have researched the success of interior designers in other states and the comparisons have left me disappointed in the potential future as a college graduate in Wisconsin. The bottom line is if I want to make it here I either need to devise a clever, clear and concise plan to market my skills and services outside of Wisconsin, or prepare my exit strategy now.
Until recently I didn’t know that my plans to leave Milwaukee upon graduation had a name or was considered an epidemic. All I knew was that the odds were stacked against me, and this alone provided the ammunition to make a strategic move to a place where my degree will pay off, my skills are valued, and my talent is acknowledged monetarily.
It seems that Wisconsin is experiencing more than a brain drain, more like a brain tumor; losing more than 10,000 college grads per year. According to an article at BizTimes.com, “That’s a big number, equal to about one-quarter of all the annual graduates from UW System campuses. The loss contributes to Wisconsin’s lagging percentage of the population holding at least a bachelor’s degree: 27 percent in 2012, two points below the U.S. average. Minnesota is at 33 percent.”
With a proposed plan to offer a more promising outcome, Governor Walker suggests a “welcome home program” for Wisconsin alumni: a flexible degree that allows adults to get credits for experience and reposition themselves in the job market, an improved tax climate, and a potential program to keep international students here after graduation.
I know this all sounds astonishing and simultaneously frightening, but digging a little further I concluded that the Wisconsin brain drain is not as bad as it may seem.
Milwaukee stacks up compared to other cities in the percent of college-educated residents. Milwaukee was ahead of about two-thirds of the top 100 metro areas, with 31.7 percent of residents being college educated, but ranked slightly below the average of 32 percent for these cities.
I guess the brain drain ultimately boils down to a personal decision. Despite where you attain a degree, this free country allows you to explore the endless possibilities it has to offer.
As a “free agent” you are allowed to make viable decisions that support your future. If you’re chasing after a dream in another state or a dream job, you can call it what you want; I say it’s inevitable.