An overwhelming majority of students studying at Atlantic Canadian universities and colleges want to stay in the region but have grave concerns about opportunities here, a new poll shows.

The poll by Corporate Research Associates also found that a mere two per cent of university and college grads want to start their own business.

The survey of 4,643 graduates of 21 post-secondary institutions in the region found that 82 percent of the grads would like to remain in the province where they studied. Among international students, 75 percent would like to stay. However, most grads also believe job opportunities and compensation levels in Atlantic Canada are inferior to other jurisdictions. Graduates also told CRA they believe the most important considerations in planning where to live are quality of life, job opportunities, cost of living and compensation levels.

Corporate Research president Margaret Brigley released the findings Friday at the Atlantic Leadership Summit, the annual half-day conference of the Atlantic Association of Universities.

“We found that students hold this region in such high regard,” said Brigley. “But they clearly have some concerns about what opportunities would be presented to them if they stay.”

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Atlantic Canada has the oldest population in Canada, and Statistics Canada said the region suffered a net out-migration of 6,700 people in 2014-15. The largest outflow was in New Brunswick, which lost 2,800 more people than it attracted.

Thus, there is an urgent movement to increase immigration and retain young people in the region, and educational institutions have a key role to play in both missions.

The poll findings showed that 75 percent of international students would like to remain in the province where they studied.

Don Mills, the chairman and CEO of CRA, said the fact that so many students would like to remain in the region is good news given that so much of the Atlantic Canadian workforce is nearing retirement. He said the current problem of too few jobs will soon turn into a greater problem of too few workers, and students who want to stay here will be needed to meet demand.

The CRA poll reveals that 87 percent of graduating students are highly satisfied with the overall quality of post-secondary education they have received in the region.

“The high degree of satisfaction expressed by graduates about their educational and living experience while studying in the region speaks volumes about the high quality of our institutions and the communities in which they are located,” said University of New Brunswick President and AAU Chair Eddy Campbell in a statement.

But he and others expressed disappointment that only one in 50 grads want to start their own business, despite the resources that institutions have devoted to entrepreneurship.

Brigley emphasized that the survey assessed the immediate plans of graduates, and it does not mean more grads don’t want to start a business at some point in the future. (The survey found that 33 percent of graduates will look for a job, 29 percent return to school, 23 percent have a job and 15 percent will travel or do something else.)

Some three percent of international students want to start their own businesses and half of these grads want to locate their business in the province where they studied.