Hometown loyalty or East Coast lures?

Noblesse Oblige
    By Jay Munir

The decision to attend college far from home is not an easy one. The excitement of new places, opportunities in disparate locales, and a sense of adventure combine each year to persuade millions of American college students to leave the comfort and familiarity of their home states to pursue educations elsewhere. As graduation approaches, however, these students are often faced with the difficult decision of whether to return home.

The majority of Yale students comes here from places outside the Northeast Corridor from Washington, D.C. to Boston. Often passing up less expensive state schools and Thanksgivings at home, students from across the country are drawn to Yale by everything from its academic reputation to the chance to live in one of the nation's more populous, diverse, and fast-paced regions. Many come with the belief that they will return to their home states after graduation to use their educations to benefit their communities while remaining close to family and friends. But with the disproportionate amount of opportunity, both financial and educational, available in Northeastern cities, it becomes tempting to defer one's homecoming a while longer in favor of taking up residence here on the East Coast.

Looking at graduating classes from years past immediately reveals that many of those who intend to return home never quite make it there. Hordes of Yalies end up calling places like New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. "home" long after they've given up on returning to Georgia or Minnesota. While there is certainly nothing wrong with relocating to places boasting the highest-paid consulting jobs or the top medical schools, many states end up losing their best and brightest to locales that don't have the same pressing need for young talent. earch.

For decades, the United States has benefitted from a global "brain drain" in which the world's best and brightest emigrated to this country, became American citizens, and used their talents to strengthen this nation. From Henry Kissinger and Pamela Harriman to Werner Von Braun and Dr. Henry Lee, the products of this "brain drain" are responsible for many of the diplomatic breakthroughs, scientific discoveries, and personal success stories that have become part of America's popular psyche in the last half- century. The flip side, of course, is that countries around the world, particularly developing countries, have suffered from the loss of international talent.

DAVID A. MOORE/YH

With a disproportionate amount of America's wealth and power concentrated in Northeastern cities, it is no surprise that so many Yale graduates choose to settle there after graduation. The effect of this movement on less affluent parts of the country has not been adequately studied. It might be that every Arkansan who is lured to a New York City office building comes at the expense of a new business in Fayetteville. At some point, we must ask whether our communities would be better served by having our most promising talent dispersed across the country rather than concentrated in a few regions.

An international student I know recently described the effect that westward-bound emigration of her nation's most educated citizens has had on her country's development. While she is glad that she came to the United States to educate herself, she is determined to return home after graduation to use what she has learned to better her country. She acknowledges the abundance of opportunty available in America, but nonetheless resists joining the pool of talent that has left her country permanently. This student is an exception, however, to the general rule that people will settle where their own educational or employment prospects are best served after graduation.

A friend of hers, who also came to an American university with the intent of returning to her homeland, told me she recently accepted an offer with a prominent investment banking firm in New York City. While she insists that she will only stay for a few years to pursue this lucrative opportunity, she certainly would not be alone if her temporary deferral becomes a permanent relocation.

It remains to be seen how this country will react to an internal "brain drain" in which places like Boston and Washington, D.C. sap the talent from less prosperous regions of the country. For in the end, the decision of where to settle after graduation is a deeply personal one beset by numerous considerations. It's far easier to encourage people to serve the communities that need them most than to follow this advice yourself.

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