It seems college degrees really do pay off, not just for the graduates but also for the cities in which they live, work and pay taxes.
The Columbus economy would gain about $1.3 billion annually if it could increase the number of adult residents with four-year college degrees by 1 percentage point, to 33.5 percent, according to a study by CEOs for Cities.
"Their numbers aren't a surprise for us," said Ty Marsh, the Columbus Chamber's CEO. "We have believed for a long time that the key to economic development is to attract talented people and retain talented people -- and that's college graduates."
CEOs for Cities, a national group promoting the development of urban centers, will hold a meeting this morning for local leaders. The event is part of the group's Talent Dividend Tour of about 30 American cities.
"You have to look at the system of education as an economic-development system," said Carol Coletta, who leads CEOs for Cities.
And this means not only getting students through high school and into college, but getting college dropouts to finish their degrees.
"There are 293,000 people in Columbus walking around with some college credit, but they did not graduate," Coletta said.
Overall, the CEOs for Cities study found that 32.5 percent of Columbus residents 25 or older have a four-year college degree, ranking it 17th nationally among the 51 largest metropolitan areas.
Washington led the way at about 46 percent.
An increase of one percentage point in four-year-college graduates in Columbus translates into about 11,300 people, Coletta said.
"Columbus is doing well, but it's not as important where you start as where you finish," she said.
People with degrees earn more and are less likely to be unemployed during a recession, Coletta said.
"We've always had a higher number of college graduates than our peer cities, particularly in Ohio," Marsh said. "But we have to take this seriously, and we have to stay ahead of the curve on this."
The chamber has introduced several programs in the past few years to retain and attract young professionals to the area. One effort, its online internship program, has about 6,000 college students and 550 employers registered. Its goal is to link students with local internships, with the hope that many lead to full-time jobs.
"We have the assets," Marsh said. "We have 20 institutions of higher learning with an enrollment of over 120,000 students."
Increasing the number of college graduates in the work force is also a goal for Mayor Michael B. Coleman.
"This is not just an education issue, it's also an economic-development issue," he said. "If we want the kinds of jobs that will provide our citizens with security and stability for the future, we must focus on growing our pool of talent."
swartenberg@dispatch.com
