Unfortunately, New Jersey has the largest brain drain of college students in the country, with a net loss of 27,500 students leaving the state in 2020. Richard Bozza, executive director of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators, said the state often misses out on college students who become teachers. “A lot of kids are attracted to schools out of state,” he said. “They make their connections there, and often they don’t return to New Jersey.”