Gov. Jennifer Granholm is planning to host a public forum next week to discuss the how to stem the tide that leads nearly half of the Michigan’s college students to seek professional opportunities outside the state within a year of graduating.
Granholm wants to reverse that trend and minimize the effects of Michigan’s brain drain, something The Detroit News recently documented in a two-day series. The number of Michigan State University graduates leaving the state increased from 24 percent in 2001 to 49 percent, according to a school study. Fifty-three percent of graduates of the University of Michigan who are originally from the Wolverine State left Michigan in 2008.
The problem is not new. The governor has tried to promote Michigan as an attractive place for recent college graduates and young professions through her “Cool Cities” initiative, which kicked off in 2003. Despite millions in investment, the initiative has been widely seen as not achieving its goals.
The free forum will be held at 9:30 a.m. April 16 at Fairlane Center North Quad E, 1900 Hubbard Drive, on the University of Michigan’s Dearborn campus.