Giving Compass' Take:

• Rob Sentz and Karen Stout explain the crucial role that community colleges' play in local economies, where the majority of students stay after graduating. 

• How can funders help local communities best leverage the advantages of community colleges?

• Learn more about community college reforms. 

Vibrant communities have a healthy dose of industry diversity, job growth that spans a variety of skill levels, and residents with the skills and training to fill those new jobs. Every community wants to attract and keep an educated workforce. However, as public investment in higher education lags, most proposals for how to do so carry a hefty price tag.

But new data from an unprecedented analysis of more than 100 million résumés and social profiles show clear patterns of degree-earners' movement -- and may point to a way forward.

It turns out that 61 percent of community-college graduates stay within 50 miles of their alma mater. State institutions and systems likewise see large numbers of their graduates settle down in-state; some 40 percent stay within 50 miles of the campus. This suggests that public colleges and universities, and particularly community colleges, are uniquely equipped not only to develop but also to retain the sort of talent that is in demand within our local economies.

Read the full article about community colleges and local economies by Rob Sentz and Karen Stout at Governing Magazine.