Saturday, Western Kentucky University sends more than 1,000 students into the "real world" with a degree in their hands.

But will these students choose to use their degrees here or will they take them somewhere else?

"I'm really, really excited to go somewhere no one else in my family has been and I'll be on my own and get to know it and get my own experiences out of it," says soon-to-be graduate Korey Reffner.

Reffner is saying "goodbye" to her time at WKU... and her life in Bowling Green. She's moving to Arkansas to work at the University of Central Arkansas.

Reffner's just one of many graduates packing their bags.

WKU's Marketing department head, Rick Shannon, says while some students want to stick around its not always feasible because of a lack of jobs and lower wages.

"The more businesses we can recruit to the city and the area, the more opportunity there will be," says Shannon.

The Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce is looking to provide those opportunities for those entering the workforce.

"We see a lot of them stay here. We have a lot of white collar jobs in the area and students love Bowling Green. They call it their home, even though they may not originally be from here," Chamber spokesperson Jessica Thompson says.

One person who plans on making Bowling Green his permanent residence is Clayton Timmons.

The soon-to-be graduate says he has no desire to move.

"My cousin moved to New York City, the biggest place you could go. But I really don't like that for me. I want to stay." says Timmons.

Thompson says when these students join our local workforce its a win-win for everyone... especially the local economy.

"They understand what our community is about. They have strong ties to Western. They have the community that they've already built here and we want them to stay because of that," says Thompson.

While Somerset native, Reffner is readying herself to move to Arkansas, she's not closing the door on a possible return to Bowling Green.

"Oh I would love to come back to Bowling Green cause its just close enough to home but its far enough away that your parents can't sneak up on you and be like 'oh look I'm coming to visit'," exclaims Reffner.

In order to retain graduates once they've left the "Hill", the Chamber works very closely with Western to educate students on job opportunities here in Bowling Green.