64% of Philly’s recent college grads choose to stay in the city and Campus Philly wants to help them find jobs

“Around the Corner” is a PhillyCAM show that offers local social impact leaders the opportunity to share what impact their work is having on the Philadelphia area.

Philly is a city of millennials. But it hasn’t always been that way.

Every few years, Campus Philly conducts a survey of recent college grads called “Choosing Philadelphia” that tracks how many stay in the city after graduating from one of the area’s 101 degree-granting institutions. In the survey’s first year — 2004, before Campus Philly was officially formed — it found that only 28 percent chose to stay, according to Jen Devor, the nonprofit’s director of partnerships. The 2014 survey, however, found that 64 percent chose to stay.

There are a couple reasons for that huge jump, including economic investment from the city, but one might be Campus Philly’s work in helping young people “turn from student to citizen,” as Devor put it.

To do that, the org focuses on civic engagement and volunteerism, arts and culture, and internships and careers. Devor hyped Campus Philly’s job matching platform (internally called “Gig Rocket”) during her Around the Corner interview with Generocity Editor Julie Zeglen.

  Watch on Vimeo

PhillyCAM is Comcast channel 66/966 HD/967 and Verizon FIOS channel 29/30 in Philadelphia.