Most Capital Region SUNY school graduates stay in New York, study finds

Roughly four-in-five graduates from State University of New York colleges in the Capital Region who were employed five years after receiving a two- or four-year degree were still living in New York, according to a Center for Economic Growth (CEG) analysis of new data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) Explorer.

The new PSEO data reveals how, out of the 21,986 graduates who received associate’s degrees from the region’s four SUNY community colleges between 2001 and 2010, 16,730 were employed five years post-graduation, or 76.1 percent. Among those employed graduates, 85.3 percent were still living in New York.

For University at Albany, the state’s retention rate is slightly lower. Between 2001 and 2012, there were 29,513 UAlbany graduates who received bachelor’s degrees, and 77.8 percent of them were fully employed five years after graduating. Among those 22,973 employed undergraduates, 78.4 percent were living in New York.

“SUNY graduates are such a valuable resource to our workforce, economy, and in our local communities. CEG is pleased to partner with SUNY institutions to help align their curriculum to ensure it meets the needs of area employers. Our labor force is getting a strong return on investment from our SUNY schools,” CEG Chief Economic Development Officer Katie Newcombe said.

New York’s retention rate for employed Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC) graduates five years post-graduation was 86.5 percent – the fifth highest rate among SUNY community colleges, according to the analysis.

HVCC President Dr. Roger A. Ramsammy attributed the college’s record of keeping students local to the college’s extensive technical skill-based training programs, which “have been at the forefront of the college’s educational philosophy since we opened our doors nearly 70 years ago.”

The college offers career-specific programs in healthcare, skilled trades, information technology, criminal justice, engineering, education, and business, among other fields.

“Expert faculty and strong industry partnerships help create a clear path for our graduates from the classroom to the workplace,” Ramsammy said. “We are proud to prepare our graduates for the careers that enrich both their own lives and our shared economy, and the fact that so many Hudson Valley alumni choose to live and work here in our region is a testament to the positive impact that the college and its graduates have on the communities we serve.”

The Capital Region’s SUNY community colleges are SUNY Adirondack, HVCC, SUNY Schenectady and Columbia-Greene Community College (CGCC). PSEO does not count graduates as employed if they earn less than the annual equivalent of full-time work at the prevailing federal minimum wage and/or they have two or more quarters with no earnings in the reference year.

Among the region’s employed community college graduates with an associate’s degree who left New York within five years post-graduation, the most popular U.S. regional divisions to which they migrated were South Atlantic (5 percent), other Middle Atlantic (2.1 percent) and New England (1.9 percent) states. Those regions were also the leading attractors of UAlbany undergraduates, attracting 6.5 percent, 4.1 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively.

The least popular destination among Capital Region SUNY undergrads was the East South Central division, which includes Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama.