High school graduates in rural counties often move to urban areas to study at higher education institutions (HEIs). Because graduates from HEIs often settle in regions in which they graduate, the result is a permanent out-migration of young talent from rural areas. This study adds to the body of literature on student choice by addressing measures…

This study seeks to understand global mobility patterns of international graduate STEM students studying in the United States. Using data from the NSF Graduate Students in Science Survey (GSSS), this study investigates the political, economic, and social factors affecting students' intent to stay or go, identifying differences based on students'…

The purpose of this paper is to examine the return intention of mainland Chinese students studying at prestigious universities in the Unites States. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods. Participants were 90 students from three top-tiered universities on the East Coast of the United States. The results of this study…

An extended body of research has documented the outmigration of the "best and brightest" youth from rural areas. Some of this scholarship has suggested that rural schools and educators may be complicit in this process as they devote extra attention and resources to the highest achieving students--those most likely to leave their rural…

The Thomas B. Fordham Institute became interested in Ohio's human-talent issues via its work to improve public education. Fordham wanted answers to two related questions: what would it take to excite, attract, and retain more top college students to work in Ohio, and what else would it take to draw them into the field of education? To seek…