Buffalo’s got brain. The number of people in the region with a college degree is up by more than 50,000 since 2000, according to a new study by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, a conservative think tank.
The study, "Brain Gain in America's Shrinking Cities," details the double-digit gains that some regions, including the Buffalo-Niagara metropolitan area, are making in retaining college educated people despite decades of economic challenges.
The study’s author, Aaron Renn, said that while non-local graduates aren’t necessarily flocking to Buffalo, much the city’s “brain gain” can be attributed to the retention of students.
“Part of it is that younger generations are much better educated than older generations. Buffalo also has a large number of universities there. It suggests to me that you’re probably doing a better job of retaining those graduates than you think,” said Renn, a well-known urban analyst.
The number of 25-year-old residents who have a bachelor's degree or higher increased by more than 29 percent between 2000 and 2013.
Renn added that part of the reason for the high retention of college graduates is Buffalo’s economic resurgence.
“There’s been a tremendous focus on making these cities much more hospitable to young, ambitious, college-degreed people and my belief is those efforts have been largely successful,” said Renn.
By the same token, Renn also attributes Buffalo’s emerging economy to its high number of people with college degrees.
“Fifty-three thousand new people with college degrees, I think, is something to celebrate. And it’s showing in your economy,” said Renn. “Your per capita economic output in Buffalo since 2001, when record keeping began, is up 15.9 percent. That ranks seventh in the country.”
Renn said that with this success, the focus now needs to shift from creating a welcoming environment for the educated to creating more opportunity for those trapped at the bottom.
