International and out-of-state students make a big economic impact on Kansas while they’re enrolled in Board of Regents institutions.

However, only about 18 percent stick around post-graduation. After five years, only 9 percent of international students and 13 percent of other out-of-staters are still employed in Kansas.

That’s according to a report presented Thursday at the Kansas Board of Regents meeting.

Board members, Regents staff and university presidents discussed the report and agreed to continue pursuing ideas for attracting nonresident students but also keeping them here once they’ve earned degrees. Studying the impact of nonresident students is one of the board’s 2014-15 goals.

Higher education is the largest — albeit under-sung — importer of talent to the state, Board of Regents Chairman Kenny Wilk said. However, the system has no strategy for retaining that talent, he said.

Regents vice president for academic affairs Gary Alexander presented the “Report on the Impact of Out-of-State students on the Kansas Higher Education System.” According to the report, based on data from 2008 to 2013:

• 8,650 international students were enrolled at Regents institutions in 2013. They created $202 million in economic impact. That’s more than double what it was five years earlier; in 2008, 4,813 international students created $94.4 million in economic impact.

• 32,839 out-of-state students were enrolled at Regents institutions in 2013. They created $753.1 million in economic impact. In 2008, 31,882 out-of-state students were enrolled, accounting for $520.8 million in economic impact.

• 18.2 percent of international graduates from Regents institutions were employed in Kansas their first year after graduation, with their total economic impact estimated to be $2.2 million. Five years after graduation, only 9.2 percent were employed in the state, and their economic impact dropped to $1 million.

• For out-of-state students, 17.6 percent were employed in Kansas right after graduation, with an economic impact of $9.4 million. Five years after graduation, 13 percent were here, with an economic impact of $8.4 million.

“Kansas data clearly demonstrates that international and nonresident students have an economic impact on the state,” the report concludes. “And, of course, they also bring academic and cultural attributes that enrich the campus climate wherever they may be enrolled. So there clearly is value in attracting such students.”

A number of Regents institutions are pursuing recruitment and retention efforts for nonresident students, including Kansas University, which has a goal of doubling its international enrollment in a four-year span.

Wichita State University President John Bardo shared some of what his school is doing and said Kansas needs more jobs in high-tech research.

Many outstanding students who start out working here end up moving elsewhere — like the Research Triangle or Silicon Valley regions — as they advance in careers.

“A lot of them are being promoted away from Kansas because our economy isn’t really structured around the higher-end jobs,” Bardo said.

Arin Powers, Fort Hays State University student body president and an Oklahoma native, said Kansas appealed to her because its small communities and rural areas are full of opportunities for young people to make a real impact.

“We want those kinds of places … where we can jump in and change the world,” Powers said.

But she said graduates also want a vibrant quality of life, and seek places they can plug in to social, professional and recreational activities.

The Board of Regents agreed to further explore solutions and return to the nonresident student discussion later.