In a world where the "brain drain" is sucking graduates out of college towns, one central Ohio area is managing to keep its students. Columbus has gained .16 percent more adults with college degrees each year between 2007-2009. This is according to the American Community Survey, conducted by the Brookings Institution for the U.S. Census Bureau every year. In fact, Columbus houses 110,000 students on 11 college campuses, second only to Boston in students per capita. Audra Fry, assistant director of the Center for Career Planning, said, "Students are staying near Columbus because they are getting connected to future employers through networking." However, many seniors won't find out about job opportunities until April or May. Megan Studebaker, a senior nursing major, thinks most seniors would like to stay in Columbus. "It will depend on how many of us can actually get the jobs we want," Studebaker said. Fry also said there are more students getting internships and more students planning to attend graduate school than in previous years. In recent years, many cities have been badly affected by the brain drain. Brain drain is when a student goes to college in one city and then leave after graduation, taking his or her knowledge to a different city. This causes cities to lose money as well as possible future employees. Over the last few years, Columbus has not been sucked into the brain drain and is gaining potential employees. In a matter of four years, Columbus gained .39 percent in young adults with college degrees. The Ohio State University Alumni Association Inc. reports that out of its 467,000 mailing list recipients, 59 percent live in Ohio. Emily Edwards, a senior music therapy major, and Catelyn Gleason, a senior equine business administration and facility management major, are both planning to continue their education and stay in Columbus. Edwards will continue her studies at Columbus State Community College for its sign language program. Feeling secure in the area is also a big factor for most seniors. "I have a steady job and I know the area. The fact that I am already settled here gives me a lot of potential by staying," Edwards said. Gleason said she "likes the safety of most of the surrounding suburbs of Columbus." One factor most seniors agree on is that they truly like the area of Columbus, with its multiple shopping areas, thousands of restaurants, clubs, many music venues and movie theaters. "Being from a small town that didn't offer anything for people my age to enjoy really convinced me to stay in such a bustling area," Gleason said. Not only are Columbus graduates staying here, but graduates from all over Ohio are coming to take advantage of the fast-growing field of technology. A survey conducted by Dice showed there are nearly 75,000 job openings in the IT and technology fields nationwide. Many of these openings have been in midwestern states that experienced a harder hit during the economic decline. Columbus was recently ranked fourth at 57 percent growth for technology jobs. Cincinnati and Cleveland ranked second and third. Thanks to this influx of job openings, all the city's offerings and the foundations students have built here, time will tell if Columbus and the rest of Ohio will continue to beat the brain drain.
Choosy grads choose Ohio
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