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# IowaWatch Connection Podcast: Keeping Young Talent In Iowa After College Graduation
- URL: https://www.investigatemidwest.org/podcast-keeping-young-talent-in-iowa-after-college-graduation/
- Published: 2015-06-22T13:07:06.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-11T02:27:48.000Z
- Description: Iowa’s estimated 2014 population of 3.1 million marked a 2 percent increase from when the 2010 census was taken, a rate slower than the 3.3 percent national population growth in that same time. This IowaWatch Connection podcast takes you deeper into the story.
- Author: Jeff Stein
- Tags: iowawatch, Uncategorized, brain drain, Iowa Board of Regents, Iowa Department of Economic Development, Iowa Labor Services Division, Iowa Workforce Development, State of Iowa Laborshed Analysis, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-06-18 04:56

[![Students talk with prospective employers at an Iowa State University School of Journalism and Mass Communication career fair in Ames, Iowa, on February 26, 2015.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cd/d3/cdd3c059-8898-40b1-bcf7-cb2d3aa89775/content/images/2026/09/ISU-Job-Fair1.jpg)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cd/d3/cdd3c059-8898-40b1-bcf7-cb2d3aa89775/content/images/2026/09/ISU-Job-Fair1.jpg?ref=investigatemidwest.org)

Students talk with prospective employers at an Iowa State University School of Journalism and Mass Communication career fair in Ames, Iowa, on February 26, 2015.

Iowa’s estimated 2014 population of 3.1 million marked a 2 percent increase from when the 2010 census was taken, a rate slower than the 3.3 percent national population growth in that same time. Fact is, Iowa’s population has remained largely stagnant over several decades.

State efforts to entice young workers to stay are not working as well as some involved in the state’s economic development efforts would like. Brain drain — the exodus of young and well-educated individuals from a Iowa’s economy — raises plenty of concerns about the health and future of a state’s economy.

You can learn more in this IowaWatch Connection podcast: