Another DeVos claim takes a hit

A brain drain? Not here A brain drain? Not here Educated immigrants turn the tide in state BY JOHN GALLAGHERFREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER September 13, 2006 Cris Boyer, 25, of Troy creates video games and owns a business. He stays in Michigan because of personal ties and a lower cost of living. (SUSAN TUSA/Detroit Free Press) Top jobs in Michigan The U.S. Census Bureau reports that these were among the top occupations for college-educated men and women who stayed in Michigan from 1995 to 2000, the most recent period for which comprehensive data is available. For men: • Mechanical engineers • Elementary and middle school teachers • Managers • Accountants and auditors • Lawyers • Chief executives • Postsecondary teachers • Physicians and surgeons • Sales representatives • Retail managers For women: • Elementary and middle school teachers. • Registered nurses • Accountants and auditors • Social workers • Secretaries and administrative assistants • Postsecondary teachers • Secondary school teachers • Education administrators • Human resources • Managers If any college graduate could be expected to flee Michigan for a state like California, it might be Cris Boyer. Now 25 years old, the 2003 Michigan State University graduate creates video games, speaks Japanese and owns his own company. So what's he doing living in Troy instead of, say, Silicon Valley? "I grew up around here," the Royal Oak native said last week. "I really like the area. And I work with a kids group here in the area, and that's something I really wouldn't want to leave." Boyer's desire to live in Michigan, and similar choices by thousands of other people, shows how complicated -- and often how mistaken -- the notion of a Michigan brain drain can be. Despite real concerns that people, especially young people, are leaving Michigan, some demographers say the notion of a brain drain -- a debilitating loss of educated people -- has been oversold to an anxious public hammered by bad news about the automotive industry. "It's certainly overblown, and to some extent has characteristics of a myth," said Jim Rogers, manager of data for the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, a regional planning agency. In fact, the state's population is growing, and its population of college graduates also is on the rise. Michigan is hardly free from demographic worries. The state's population continues to grow more slowly than the nation as a whole. Fast-growing Sunbelt states like Arizona add several new residents for each new one in Michigan. But Rogers sees the state's growing number of college graduates as a sign of hope, especially for metro Detroit. "Despite the bad news about the auto industry, despite the fact that we have higher unemployment than the nation as a whole, and this litany of bad news that we've gotten so used to here, we're a large metropolitan area with a large population and a relatively well-educated population compared to the country as a whole, and despite some domestic losses, are still a very strong center of population and industry," he said. Immigration is the difference The idea of a Michigan brain drain arose because, for many years, Census Bureau figures have shown that more college graduates leave Michigan for other states than move in from elsewhere in the country. The net outflow is particularly strong among younger residents. But that's just part of the story. The state's population continues to increase, thanks to the natural birth rate and an influx of immigrants from overseas. Perhaps even more important for the state's economic future, Michigan's population of college graduates -- the people who put the "brain" in brain drain -- has been increasing, not declining. Between 2001 and 2004, the Census Bureau's American Community Survey data showed a net increase of 35,700 people with a bachelor's degree or higher choosing to migrate to Michigan. "Which is news to a lot of people," Rogers said. "That's not the conventional wisdom because this loss of college graduates through migration domestically has been so hyped." Foreign immigration plays a big part. In terms of state-to-state migration, more college grads leave Michigan than arrive. But the rising number of educated immigrants -- mainly men with mechanical engineering degrees from Canada, India and China -- tips the balance into the positive column. As recently as 1980, the Census Bureau found just 8,300 foreign immigrants with college degrees coming to Michigan during the previous five-year period. By 2001-2004, though, the number of college-educated foreigners arriving in the state had totaled 61,800. "The international immigration of college graduates is something that has increased dramatically over time, and it's changed the picture for Michigan," Elaine Fielding, a senior research analyst with the University of Michigan's office of budget and planning, said last week. William Frey, a U-M demographer, echoed that sentiment. Educated foreign immigrants "are less concerned about a warm climate or amenities," he said last week. "They're worried about the jobs and not having a high cost of living. So this immigration may be a source of gain for Michigan that people have not realized yet." Probably because of the demands of the auto industry, metro Detroit's foreign immigrants rank among the most educated in the nation, Frey said. Of the 50 metro areas with the highest percentages of college-educated immigrants, metro Detroit ranked fourth highest. More than 53% of foreign immigrants who came to this area in 2004-2005 had a bachelor's degree or higher. The brain drain idea has taken root in part because many young Michiganders do leave. Graduates from Michigan stay Tracey Killoran, 24, a 2003 U-M graduate, recently moved to Chicago for a job in financial services. She says job opportunities were limited here in her home state but plentiful in Chicago. "It's worked out pretty well for me," the Grand Rapids native said last week. "I was definitely ready to make a move after living in Michigan for most of my life, and Chicago isn't that far away." Sarah Gutowski, 25, also a 2003 U-M graduate, moved to Chicago two years ago to work in graphic design. Better economic opportunities there were only part of the lure. "I wanted to experience city life," the Northville native said last week. "I thought it would be more opportunity for my job and just more things to do socially." Today, living not far from Chicago's lakefront, she reports meeting lots of great people and being "really happy." But sometimes, the advantages work in Michigan's favor. "The cost of living is dramatically lower here than, say, San Francisco or Los Angeles or Seattle, the primary hubs of the industry," video-game creator Boyer said last week. And sometimes state loyalty plays a part. Jennifer Putney, 25, a St. Clair County native and a 2003 MSU grad, strongly considered moving to Colorado after graduation. She loves the West's skiing, sunshine and other amenities. But she, too, chose Michigan. She works as a union organizer based in Detroit. "I guess I have faith that Michigan can turn itself around, and I'd like to be a part of that," she said last week. Whether young college grads move out of Michigan depends to a great extent on where they grew up. About 53% of U-M's 2001-2005 graduates still live in the state, data from the university show. But there's a big contrast between the students who were Michigan natives and those who came to U-M from out-of-state, research analyst Fielding said. About 77% of grads who were Michigan natives still live in the state. In contrast, only 10% of U-M graduates who came to Ann Arbor from another state still live in Michigan. But those out-of-state graduates were the ones the state might have expected to lose anyway. Wayne State University reported similar figures for its graduates. Economic opportunity, or lack of it, clearly plays an important role. Whether the most recent restructurings and layoffs afflicting companies like Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. diminish the number of young college grads coming or staying in Michigan for the balance of this decade is something that has demographers worried. Meanwhile, the notion that Michigan is suffering a brain drain has so taken hold that both Democrats and Republicans accept it. Fighting the brain drain motivated Gov. Jennifer Granholm to create her Cool Cities program, which awards grants to aging cities to help create lively enclaves of urban living to attract younger workers. And battling the brain drain also is behind part of Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos' campaign to unseat Granholm. Contact JOHN GALLAGHER at 313-222-5173 or gallagher@freepress.com.