Maine's colleges and universities can play a leading role in stemming the flow of educated young people who are leaving to live and work outside the state.

Four college and university presidents, all newly appointed this year, delivered that message to a gathering of bankers in Portland Monday. They outlined the impact their institutions have on attracting or keeping educated young people in the state and on the state's economy.

They said stopping the so-called "brain drain" depends on strengthening research and development and academic offerings at the state's higher education institutions, which include the seven-campus University of Maine system, Maine Maritime Academy, seven Maine community colleges and the 18 private college and universities based in Maine.

University of Southern Maine President Richard Pattenaude, who moderated the forum, called the state's higher education institutions the "paper mills" of the 21st century. The schools, he explained, help to fuel the state's economy with their multimillion budgets while educating the upcoming generation of workers.

"They are a central component of producing a brain gain, not a brain drain," Pattenaude said.

Reversing the outward migration of young people is a goal for states in the Northeast and the Midwest, which have seen big declines in manufacturing jobs and a loss of workers lured by the more vibrant economies in the South and West Coast.

Estimates vary on the number of Maine residents who leave the state to study. The Finance of Authority of Maine earlier this year concluded that half of Mainers leave the state to attend college. The National Center for Educational Statistics reported that only about one-third leave the state.

The finance authority study also concluded young adults between the ages of 20 and 24 are twice as likely as those 35 years and older to move out of the state. The study also found that two-thirds of the state's "best and brightest" students, those who earned As or Bs in high school and whose parents had college or advanced degrees, ultimately wound up living and working outside Maine.

The college and university presidents nevertheless reported several positive trends. Robert Kennedy, head of the University of Maine at Orono, said the university's new Graduate School of Biomedical Science highlights the role higher education can play in helping to retain its top high school students.

Nine of the 12 students in the doctoral program have Maine roots and all of them have indicated they want to stay in the state once they have completed their studies.

The university is also making inroads in attracting both in- and out-of-state students, he said. Overall enrollment is up 7 percent this year from last year. Out-of-state enrollment grew 55 percent in the past two years.

He also said Maine ranked third in the nation in the number of businesses per capita spun off from academia.

Danielle Ripich, president of the University of New England, based in Biddeford, said her university is helping to fuel the biomedical and pharmaceutical sector, both by turning out graduates and spin-off businesses.

"UNE is one of the 100 biggest companies (in the state) with a more than a $250 million impact on the economy," she said.

David Hales, president of the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, said his private college, with an enrollment of about 280 students, adds $20 million to the local economy annually. He said the college serves as a cultural center and is the region's third largest employer. He said one-third of the students come from Maine and 45 percent stay in Maine to pursue careers.

Mitchell Thomashow, president of Unity College, an environmentally-focused school in Unity, said his school's enrollment reached an all-time high of 565 students this fall. Many will go on to help develop Maine's environment-based sectors, such as veterinary medicine and conservation, he said.

Thomashow called on the state's higher education institutions to continue to act as economic drivers by creating a critical mass of educational opportunities to attract more students to the state.

"The whole idea about college in Maine ought to be like a lot of good restaurants on the same block," he said.