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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > June > 21 > Entry
Kevin Riley: Ohio must convince grads to stay
There’s been a lot of talk about what industries hold the key to Ohio’s future. As traditional manufacturing continues its long painful slide in the state, there are plenty of opinions about where Ohio should cast for its future.
Whatever your opinion on that, Ohio has one industry — if you call it that — within which it has undisputed strength: higher education.
Ohio is home to nearly 200 degree-granting institutions enrolling hundreds of thousands of students.
(Only California, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas have more schools.)
Here’s the problem: Ohio is exporting this product (college graduates) instead of keeping it here to build its economy.
So when another report about Ohio’s “brain drain” — shorthand for students who graduate and leave the state — came out last week, you might have been tempted to dismiss it as the latest bit of bad news about that topic.
But the report issued by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, “Losing Ohio’s Future,” highlighted opportunities the state has to convince college graduates to stay.
Steve Farkas, of FDR Group, which conducted the research for Fordham, briefed community leaders and emphasized those opportunities.
His research involved students at seven of what he called Ohio’s “best” schools: Case Western Reserve, Kent State, Miami, Oberlin, Ohio State, Ohio University and the University of Dayton.
Here’s the good news: Students like Ohio. More than 60 percent think the state is an excellent or good place for them to build a future.
The bad news: Most plan to leave Ohio after school — especially those who aren’t native Ohioans (79 percent).
Typical of the challenge the state faces is Jennie Szink, a Michigan native who is a recent University of Dayton graduate and an intern here at the Dayton Daily News. One good way to convince students to stay, Farkas said, is to get students connected to the community at large — through internships and other jobs. That happened with Szink.
She said that having an internship and other experiences while a UD student “made her feel a part” of Dayton.
One of the problems is that Ohio college students rarely leave campus, and some say that their schools don’t do a good job connecting them to opportunities.
Not true with Szink, who said she was aware of a number of local efforts to do so and has spent time attending events around Dayton. She’s been to the Schuster Center, local festivals and Dragons games.
Locally several groups are addressing this connection issue. For example, the Downtown Dayton Partnership leads a “Campus Connect” program to expose local college students to the amenities of the region. And the city has its “Summer in the City” program for those students who are spending their summer in the area.
But Ohio has some problems with its college students. Close to half say the state’s image is bad among people outside the state. And there are large gaps between what these students want — good job and career opportunities, an exciting and fun place to live — and their view about what Ohio offers them.
Back to Szink, who feels differently. She’s from a small town in Michigan, and wanted to stay in Ohio. She said she believes there’s plenty to do here.
But her peers chided her for it. “They made fun of me … asking ‘why would you want to stay in the Midwest?’” she said.
There are many efforts under way to change that kind of perception of Ohio and the Dayton region. Efforts on that front include recreational developments and revitalizing the city’s urban core.
But a student who has a positive experience here — outside the campus bubble — is someone we ought to be able to convince to stay.
The Fordham research suggests that tax credits for staying here and grants toward down payments on homes were among incentives students liked.
But in the end, the students will need jobs. Some are willing to move to a city, and then find a job — but not so with Szink.
She’ll be going back to Michigan, where she’s landed a job at a weekly newspaper near her hometown.
And therein lies the dilemma for this region and the state — one I experienced firsthand. We had a chance to keep her here, but like many local companies, we haven’t been hiring many people during these tough economic times.
It’s a tough call, and I can’t be sure whether we made the right one. But I hope we’ll get Jennie Szink back some day soon.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: Columns, Economy, Kevin Riley
Comments
By Emily
June 21, 2009 11:23 PM | Link to this
I’m right there with Jennie Szink. Although I went to school out of state and outside of the Midwest entirely, I’m interested in coming back to Dayton. (I’m nothing if not contrary.) If there’s an opportunity to make a lasting impact on a struggling society (and I’ve found several right here), I’m there. But I’d sure like to be gainfully employed at the same time.By Bob540
June 22, 2009 12:43 PM | Link to this
There are pluses to living in the Dayton area. There are comfortable, safe communities here that are good to raise a family in. There is easy travel to a number of other cities. Housing is affordable. If jobs were moving into Dayton instead of out, I think young people could be persuaded to stay.By kurt
June 23, 2009 1:55 PM | Link to this
The state should provide MORE scholarship money and have strings attached that provides servitude upon graduation.It works for businesses that profit handsomely off of their co-op programs.