Millennials were responsible for a significant increase in college-educated young people in Philadelphia, but the question is whether Gen Z will follow suit, writes Lizzy McLellan Ravitch for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

At the start of the millennium, Philadelphia saw its population of college-educated young adults drop below 60,000, despite the dozens of colleges and universities in the region.

The city has managed to more than double the number of people aged 25 to 34 with college degrees since then to 152,200, according to a new Campus Philly report.

One of the reasons for the growth is the size of the millennial generation, which is bigger than baby boomers, and the fact that many went to college.

However, it is uncertain if the city will be able to maintain these numbers, as Gen Z is smaller in number than millennials. So to maintain the trend, Philadelphia will have to work on getting local teens on a path to college and making the region attractive to college graduates both from Philadelphia and other places.

“We need to be doing more of what we’ve been doing all along … amplifying the city as a place to be,” said Jennifer Kebea, president of Campus Philly.

Read more about the trend in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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