Report: City poor in college graduates

Philadelphia holds the unenviable distinction of having more college dropouts than college graduates among its citizens, according to a recent report.

The Pennsylvania Economy League and the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board released the results of a six-month study examining the impact of Philadelphia residents' level of education on the city's economy.

According to the report, Philadelphia came in 92nd on a list of 100 communities ranked by their percentage of college-educated residents.

But the study also noted a glimmer of hope.

While only 14 percent of Philadelphians have a college degree, 80,000 more people aged 25 to 45 have finished at least one year of college.

Researchers suggest that if the dropouts would return to school and finish their degrees -- becoming "comebackers" -- the educational acumen of the Philadelphia work force would increase, resulting in an improved economy.

"Everyone is realizing that a college degree is really the basic entree" to the job market, said the report's author, Hadass Sheffer of Graduate! Philadelphia -- an organization created by PEL and PWIB to improve the quality of Philadelphia's work force.

Graduate! Philadelphia was born in 2004 after its parent organizations researched the "brain drain" -- the theory that students who attend college in Philadelphia do not stay in the city to seek employment ? and found rather promising results.

So it became clear that Philadelphia was losing college-educated workers at some other point in the pipeline.

Sheffer said that many of the 80,000 Philadelphia dropouts of prime working age left college due to nonacademic problems such as financial restraints or family obligations.

For this reason, the report calls for a united effort of community, business and higher-education leaders.

"This is an enormous issue for this community. Therefore we're not just leaving it in the lap of higher education," said David Thornburgh, executive director of PEL for the state's southeast.

Sheffer echoed Thornburgh's sentiments.

"It really is in everyone's interest and it is all of our responsibilities," Sheffer said.

"Everyone should be concerned with this. We can't just make it the responsibility of the colleges and universities. They can't go it alone," she added.

Kristine Billmyer, executive director of the College of General Studies --ÿPenn's school offering part-time day and evening programs for adult students -- noted that "comebackers" make up a large part of the CGS student body, as the nation's economy is shifting toward knowledge industries and higher education is more necessary.

"What's essential for people to realize is that a bachelor's degree ... is really what's going to be in the best interest of the future needs of America," Billmyer said.

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