Still, the figures are not all bad for Nebraska. Census figures show that the state is steadily increasing its percentage and numbers of people with bachelor’s and graduate degrees: up to 29.3 percent of the population in the latest figures, compared to 27.7 percent in the 2006-10 estimates. The difference amounts to a gain of some 34,600 people with bachelor’s and advanced degrees.

So in baseball terms, Nebraska is improving the franchise through its farm system, but losing out in the free agent market.

Eric Thompson, an economics professor and director of the Bureau of Business Research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said the migration figures show that Nebraska has returned to its default conditions, for now at least.

A similar struggle is happening in Nebraska’s neighboring states. Iowa, for instance, is losing a net of some 3,200 highly educated people annually.

But Thompson was encouraged by the overall growth in the number of college graduates in Nebraska.

“We can afford to be patient,” he said. “A lot of things are going well.”

Thompson said Nebraska has done well raising its quality of life — with wonderful public schools, high-quality health care and relatively low crime.