Type "Ohio" and "brain drain" together into Google and you get 86,600 hits.
In 2007, Ohio saw 6,981 more resi????dents between the ages of 25 and 34 leave the state than mi????grate into it.
In 2003, the Cleveland Plain Dealer found that individuals with master's degrees are more apt to say farewell to Ohio than those with bache????lor's degrees, and those with doctoral degrees were twice as likely to leave.
Despite these grim statistics, Ohio desperately needs to hold on to its best-and-brightest college graduates. The economy in deep recession, with the state facing a $3 billion budget deficit.???? Workers with a bachelor's degree earn more, and pay more in taxes, than their high-school-diploma-holding peers. Yet, Ohio is lagging nation????ally in keeping and attracting col????lege graduates - the state ranks 30th nationally in the number of citizens between the ages of 25 and 34 with a bachelor's degree.
Ohio's future prosperity demands that we do a better job of keeping and engaging our best and brightest. They will generate the economic vigor, new technologies, and other kinds of economic development that will spur the jobs and progress the state needs to modernize, thrive, and ultimately prosper. They and their success are key to the state's ability to pay its bills and meet its promises.
So, we wondered, why are graduates leaving the Buckeye State????? What would it take to keep them here????? And further, what would it take to get them working in the field of education (both in teaching and in other careers)????? Check out our latest report, Losing Ohio's Future: Why college graduates flee the Buckeye State and what might be done about it for the answers!
