An $11 million state investment will create as many as 3,500 internships and co-ops for college students and could help keep graduates in the area and draw key industries to Ohio, experts say.

The investment next year is part of the state’s strategy to align higher education curriculum with workforce skills in demand in fields such as aerospace and advanced manufacturing.

The grants will be funded through casino license fees and are contingent upon the approval of the Ohio Controlling Board in January, state officials said.

“These awards are meant to provide Ohio employers with opportunities to benefit from the talents of Ohio’s college and career technical students,” said Chancellor Jim Petro. “And they’ll provide students with valuable internship or co-op experience.”

In total, 10 colleges and 13 public or private universities will receive grants, which require matching funds from employers. The University of Cincinnati, Ohio State University and Wright State University will receive the highest amounts, at $1.8 million, $1.5 million and $1.3 million, respectively.

The money will help schools fight the so-called brain drain from the area, said Joseph Slater, assistant dean of Wright State’s College of Engineering and Computer Science.

“This will help us keep a lot of our best and brightest in the area and allow us to attract students who left our region for higher education and co-ops to come back to the region,” he said.

Training more students is important for high-paying fields such as aerospace, which is tied to Ohio’s largest single-site employer the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and advanced manufacturing, where area employers say they have more jobs than skilled workers.

“When we’re educating our students right here in our region, we would like to retain some of that talent. Co-oping is a big incentive to helping students find jobs right here after they graduate. And that will help keep key industries right here in Ohio,” said Shelley Cassady, Miami University’s career, co-op and internship services regional director.

The effort also will benefit students, who are more likely to get a job offer by graduation and earn a higher salary if they complete an internship or co-op, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

“Internships are the best solution for career preparation, keeping our talent local, and meeting workforce demand,” said Sean Creighton, executive director of the Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education. SOCHE has an effort to nearly triple the number of internships in the area to 20,000 by 2020.

Although it is not mandatory for a student to do an internship or co-op in order to get a job, “it really puts the educational material in context, and you can see a dramatic difference in students before they co-op and after,” said John Weber, associate dean of engineering for the University of Dayton, where most of the $235,995 the university will receive will be used to pay co-op wages for students from UD and Sinclair Community College.

Making internships available to more students also will help strengthen the workforce and continue growth in the region, said Kettil Cedercreutz, associate provost and director of UC’s Division of Professional Practice and Experiential Learning.

“The availability of talent, that’s really a key thing for the southwest corner of Ohio over the next 15 years,” he said.

Clark State Community College President Karen Rafinski said the grants are a step forward because they put some money behind the effort to connect students with employers.

“Anytime that we can provide an experience for students that is a strong simulation of what they will actually do when they’re out on the job, it’s to the student’s benefit and it’s to our benefit because we can keep them more engaged in classes,” she said. “It gives employers the opportunity to really look at our students and pick out the best.”

Clark State’s $28,965 will go to internships that train students in data and information technology fields, she said. Clark State also will participate in a $251,662 grant supporting the Honda-created Ohio Manufacturing Education Collaborative led by Rhodes State College, she said.

Slater said Wright State will work with local employers to find funds to create the 193 internship positions it originally submitted for approval to the state because of the need for people to fill jobs in the area. Wright State was given a state grant for about 100 internships, according to the Board of Regents.

“Our industry definitely needs these areas filled,” he said. “There’s a dramatic shortage of people in these areas to fill these jobs.”