This article was originally published in The Scribe, UCCS’s student newspaper, on Feb. 2, 2015.
By Eleanor Skelton
News Editor
Students graduating in STEM disciplines often move out of the area, although the Front Range area was once the “little silicon valley” in the 80s.
Last December, UCCS attempted to address this issue in a higher education conference, in part aimed at keeping STEM graduates local.
Colorado Springs ranked 18, with Houston / The Woodlands area being number one and metro Denver coming in at fourth, according to an analysis published this month by WalletHub.com. The report included data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Department of Commerce.
Houston ranked first for highest annual median wage when adjusted for cost of living. Colorado Springs was fifth. Gross annual median wage calculations placed New York City highest, Dallas second.
“I think it’s a secure field, the science field,” said Emily Danis, a freshman biomedical major, studying to become a physician’s assistant.
Danis said job security was a key factor in determining her major, in addition to personal interest.
“My career path will be as a professor and research physicist,” graduate physics student and lab instructor Jewell Anne Hartman said. “I would also like to become involved with bionanotechnology business as well, handling things from an industry side, but simultaneously working in research and as a faculty professor.”
“I do believe that Colorado Springs is excellent in STEM resources because it has a large base for Department of Defense between three military bases and also all the companies such as Northrup Grumman, Lockheed Martin, [and] ITT, that hire science-oriented jobs,” she said.
Reactions from faculty to the report, based on their experiences living in the area, varied.
“All of the students in our graduating class last year who wanted to stay in industry in the area got a job,” Assistant Chemistry Professor Janel Owens said.
“Our students went to Pyxant, the coroner’s office, CPI,” she said. “Another one went to NexGen Pharma.”
Previous graduating classes expressed more interest in attending graduate school rather than enter the workforce, Owens said. But the 2014 class wanted work experience to help shape their specialization in graduate school.
Owens mentioned that the engineering and technology side of STEM plays a bigger role in Colorado Springs employment. She expressed hope that chemistry would continue to grow as the region expands.
Owens said graduating students seeking employment should gain experience through undergraduate research.
Other professors mentioned difficulties in finding STEM employment.
“The only thing I even saw as an opportunity was Orange Glo products out of Denver,” Organic Chemistry Lab Instructor Brett Mayer said. “There’s virtually nothing around here.”
Mayer worked in the chemical industry on the East Coast before relocating to Colorado Springs several years ago.
“With a master’s degree in chemistry, the opportunities as a chemist are slim to none out here,” he said. “There are some biotech startups [for student internships].”
Organic chemistry professor, Allen Schoffstall, has lived in Colorado Springs since 1967. He said remembers Intel moving in, and then out of the area between 2000 and 2010.
Math Center Director Jenny Dorrington said she believes engineering plays an important role in the ranking.
“Most of the people that tutor here and then major in engineering or math are getting jobs,” she said. “Most of the math jobs have been in teaching, although I do know one of our senior majors is now working out at Peterson, doing some computing work for them.”
Eleanor Skelton 