Garrett: Study shows graduates of public colleges and universities learn here and earn here

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When I was a kid, I was always a little jealous of classmates whose grandparents lived nearby. Their grandparents came to sporting events, school concerts, and church, while mine lived in another state. When multiple generations build lives in close proximity to one another, there are often more opportunities to thrive together. Likewise, when we invest in Oklahoma’s college students and they choose to stay, we all benefit from the connection, workforce growth and innovation that results.

That’s exactly what the vast majority of Oklahoma college graduates do. According to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education Jobs Results Report 2023More than 93 percent of Oklahoma residents – and nearly two-thirds of nonresidents – who graduate from a public college or university are employed in the state one year after graduation. Five years later, 85% of resident graduates remain and work in Oklahoma.

We know graduates of our public colleges and universities are learning and earning here because our employment rates reflect a data match between records from the State Regents, the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission and the Oklahoma Tax Commission. This data is used to determine the percentage of public system graduates who are employed in the state one year and five years after graduation.

In accordance with our 2030 objective strategic plan, our new interactive employment outcomes dashboard reveals that public higher education’s targeted efforts to retain graduates in key fields – including in Oklahoma’s critical professions – are paying off fruits.

More than 84% of all STEM undergraduates stay and work in Oklahoma one year after graduation. Among our engineering graduates with bachelor’s degrees, nearly 80% are working in Oklahoma one year after graduation.

Nearly 92 percent of teacher education graduates earning a bachelor’s degree are employed in the state one year after graduation, and nearly 80 percent are still employed in the state after five years. Across all degree levels, nearly 95% of our nursing graduates are working here after one year, and more than 87% are still working in our state five years later.

Our latest study on employment rates confirms national data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics linking higher education to income and job security. Among full-time workers over 25, the higher your education level, the higher your annual income and the lower your risk of unemployment. College graduates have double the annual income, three times the retirement savings, and four times the net worth of working-age Americans without college degrees.

Knowing the value of earning a degree to our state and citizens, we thank our governor and legislature for continuing to support the Oklahoma Promise and can definitively report a tangible return on the state’s investment in the scholarship program. More than 94 percent of Oklahoma’s Promise graduates stay and work in our state one year after graduation, and more than 86 percent are still living and working in Oklahoma five years later.

For thriving communities, a stronger workforce, and a thriving economy, we must continue to help more Oklahomans realize the dream of a college degree and then choose to create a life and career here.

Allison Garrett is chancellor of Oklahoma State System of Higher Education.