What keeps MSU grads in Lansing?

Summer is officially over. As Michigan State University’s campus swells with new and returning students, there’s s a never-ending flurry of activity. 

For current students, there are college bars, shopping on Grand River Avenue and games to watch. Students don’t need to travel too far to find something to do.

But for the MSU graduates who stayed in Greater Lansing and surrounding communities, taking part in those same activities doesn’t have nearly the same thrill. 

The symbiotic relationship between MSU and Lansing can’t be ignored: university education brings young people to the area, and Lansing has the economy and job opportunities for graduates to start building their careers.  

But whether they stay is often boiled down to whether there are enough job opportunities and ties to the community.

Lansing native Lillian White just graduated from MSU. With a B.S. in human biology, she is in her second round of dental school applications and currently works as a dental assistant.

MSU doesn’t have a dental school, so White is looking at schools on Michigan’s east side and is prepared to apply to those even farther away. 

Lansing is her home and there’s plenty to do. White enjoys going to the mall, attending sports games and spending time in Lansing’s parks. She said she would prefer to stay in the area, but “I also know the adult world doesn’t work like that.”

She has mixed feelings about the job market after graduating. “The dental world is so small that really your best shot is to find somebody who’s getting ready to retire,” she said. 

According to White, there’s enough business in Greater Lansing that she’s fairly confident an opportunity could open up closer to home. “I think that’s what’s so nice about Lansing,” she said. “There’s so many dental offices that there’s always stuff changing.”

White’s chances of returning to Lansing after graduation from dental school depend on whether she can find a job that fits her education. “There are opportunities like the military that are always … recruiting people for dental positions,” she said. 

“But I want to stay with my family and stay in the Lansing area … I’m a part-time middle school cheer coach as well,” White said. “So to be able to stay within the community that I grew up in would be nice.”

Ultimately, White would go where she could find a job. If that means moving away from her family, White said Lansing is the final destination. “Even if I were to move away from the Lansing area, I definitely see myself coming back.”

MSU grads MaKenna Silverman and Nadav Langberg, from the classes of 2023 and 2024 respectively, have established careers in Lansing. The couple has been dating for several years and live in Okemos.

Silverman has a degree in political science and works as a legislative aide. “It took me months to land a full-time position,” she said.

Even with prior experience like an internship, securing a job in Michigan’s capital is competitive for graduates looking to enter politics. “If you don’t have your foot in the door, you’re not getting through that door,” Silverman said. “Like, that door is bolted, locked, there’s nails in it.”

Conveniently, MSU is a few miles away from the state’s governing hub, making it easier to get an internship or full-time job. The gag is that the applicant pool is saturated with students from across the state. 

“This might be the capital of Michigan,” Langberg said. But, he said, that means every political science graduate in Michigan is trying to work here.

Langberg, from the MSU class of 2024, studied actuarial science. “The sarcastic version of what I do is I look at a computer screen all day and give my opinion once a week,” Langberg said.

Finding a job after graduation was fairly easy for him. “I do think that Greater Lansing lacks more highly specialized jobs,” he said. “My job specifically has a decent presence, but other jobs do not.”

The area needs job opportunities in a wider range of industries, Langberg said. “At the end of the day, this area is the capital of Michigan, so a lot of the jobs that will flourish here are somewhat related to things that are in the capital.”

According to Silverman, political science majors go down one of two paths: law school or straight into politics. “I didn’t think I had multiple paths,” she said. 

Trying to get out of politics is more like moving sideways. “I know a few coworkers who have tried … they always end up somewhere within the Lansing politics circle,” Silverman said. “Either you’re going to work in a lobbying firm, you’re going to work in an advocacy firm, or [stay] in politics.”

Attempts to start in advocacy work led to a dead end for Silverman, so she decided to go back to school for a master’s in social work. “I love my job,” she said, “but at the end of the day, I just felt like I’d always be stuck.”

Silverman and Langberg both ended up in Lansing because of MSU, but they don’t picture staying long-term. “I think Lansing is more of a chapter of a story versus the whole book,” Silverman said.

“It’s just the beginning and a bouncing-off point,” Langberg said. “But as a bouncing-off point, it’s not a bad place to be.”

The couple agrees that there are alternative activities for recent graduates looking for a step away from the college environment. “Lansing has the base of what you would need for a city,” Langberg said, “but it’s not going to come to you. You have to look for it.”

The decision to stay in your college town after graduation comes with a shift in perspective.

For White, a recent graduate, Lansing is her community, where her family and friends are. If a job opportunity were to make her move, she would eventually come back.

Langberg, who has moved around a lot, stayed for his partner and his job. “If I didn’t have a job here, and I wasn’t with MaKenna,” he said, “I don’t see a reason I would have stayed here.”

Silverman has family in the area, but for her career aspirations, it isn’t the right fit. “I don’t know if the area is worth it,” she said. 

That doesn’t mean time in Lansing isn’t worth anything. The years after graduation are formative. It’s the time for young adults to figure out who they are separate from their place on campus. “Being in Lansing has given me the most of my life,” Silverman said.

“Though I don’t see myself here long term, everything that I found here is long term … and I’m really appreciative of that.”