Forbes.com says new study finds “an increasingly youthful workforce . . . among the better educated in the nation”

Brain gain is real in Cleveland, according to new research by Richey Piiparinen, senior research associate at the Center for Population Dynamics in Cleveland State University’s Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs – and the results are getting national attention.

Among the key findings detailed in “Globalizing Cleveland: A Path Forward,” a study co-authored by Piiparinen and research consultant Jim Russell and published by CSU:

l The number of college-educated 25- to 34-year-olds in Greater Cleveland increased by 23 percent from 2006 to 2012, with an 11 percent increase from 2011 to 2012.

l Nearly half of the educated individuals who came into Cuyahoga County from 2007 to 2011 did so from another state. In terms of net migration, Atlanta, Detroit and Pittsburgh were the biggest feeders for those arriving with a bachelor’s degree, while Chicago, Manhattan, Brooklyn and Pittsburgh sent the most individuals with a graduate or professional degree.

l Half of the immigrants who came into Cuyahoga County from 2007 to 2011 were college-educated. Out of those educated migrants, 64 percent were Asian, 14 percent were European and 8 percent were African. Sixty percent of all educated migrants had graduate or professional degrees.

The eye-opening report was highlighted by Forbes.com contributor Joel Kotkin, who wrote:

The picture of Cleveland that emerges from the Cleveland State University study is a very different one from that to which we are accustomed. Rather than a metro area left behind by the information revolution, Cleveland boasts an increasingly youthful workforce that is among the better educated in the nation.

The “Globalizing Cleveland” report is the second installment in a three-part series from the Center of Population Dynamics at CSU. Part 1, titled “From Balkanized Cleveland to Global Cleveland” and published in 2013, sketched a theory of change for Greater Cleveland relating to economic and community development. The upcoming Part 3 will offer strategic pathways for helping Greater Cleveland progress into an increasingly globalized world.