ORONO – The state’s bemoaned “brain drain” phenomenon has been questioned by the results of a University of Maine study that shows nearly two-thirds of its full-time employed recent graduates are launching careers in Maine.

Last week, the University of Maine’s Office of Institutional Studies published a report on the class of 2005, which states 73.9 percent of respondents are employed full-time, and nearly two-thirds of those full-time workers are in Maine.

The results challenge the “brain drain” theory that asserts Maine’s best and brightest are leaving the state en masse for work and education.

“The survey shows that UMaine’s graduates are doing well, both in the workplace and in the pursuit of further education,” said UMaine president Robert Kennedy.

The report, titled “Life After UMaine,” is based on the 1,460 individuals who received UMaine baccalaureate degrees in December 2004, May 2005 or August 2005. Of those surveyed, 700 responded, giving information about where they were and what they were doing six to 15 months after graduation.

Aside from the 73.9 percent employed full-time, 12.4 percent were employed part-time, 5.6 percent were unemployed and 8.1 percent had dedicated themselves full-time to graduate school.

But many respondents said they were juggling both graduate school and work. Overall, 26.3 percent of the respondents reported being enrolled in graduate studies, regardless of their employment status.

Of the graduates who reported working full-time, 66.3 percent said they did so in Maine. However, the responses varied significantly depending on whether the graduate was originally from Maine.

Among the graduates who had grown up in Maine, 72 percent remained in their home state. Of the graduates originally from other states, 27 percent remained in Maine after graduation.

There was some decline over the previous year in the percentage of students who were employed full-time and in the percentage of working students who stayed in Maine.

The percentage of full-time working graduates, 73.9 percent, is down slightly from 75.4 percent reported a year earlier. The percentage of Maine natives who stayed in Maine was down 2 percent from the previous year, and the number of non-Maine natives who stayed in Maine was down 9.4 percent.

However, Patricia B. Counihan, director of the UMaine Career Center, said that the declines were relatively insignificant and that the figures from the past five years have been “pretty much the same.”

“It’s been pretty consistent over time now that two-thirds of our full-time working graduates stay in Maine,” Counihan said. “If you were to ask me if this trend is going to continue, I think it will grow down the road.”

The UMaine Career Center encourages students to pursue careers and graduate studies wherever they want, not necessarily in Maine.

What remains unknown is how long college graduates stay in Maine. The Office of Institutional Studies does not track students’ career paths, and UMaine’s Alumni Association said it does not keep statistics on where its alumni live and work.

A report published in October by the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, examined Maine Department of Labor statistics and found that between 1992 and 2002, the state labor force saw a decline of 42,000 workers between the ages of 25 and 34.

John Dorrer, director of Labor Market Information Services at the state Department of Labor said the exodus from the workforce could be attributed to three categories of people – those who moved out of state, the ones who remained in state but left the workforce, and the people who died.

Dorrer said his office is about to release a study that used the social security numbers of freshmen who enrolled at UMaine in 1994 to track them and record their employment status and whereabouts between 1994 and 2003.

Dorrer said UMaine’s report is consistent with his findings, which show that more than half of the UMaine students he examined are still in Maine.

Dorrer said he is unsure about the “brain drain” notion. Many young people have left the northern region of the state due to a slowing economy, but many are moving to the southern counties, he said.

“There’s an exchange going on here. Young people are following their economic interests,” Dorrer said. “We can’t hold young people hostage. We have to prepare them, encourage them to explore the world and create attractive opportunities to come back to Maine.”