Low Wages, High Student Loan Debt Drives Iowa's Brain Drain

There was a great article in the Boone News Republican last month about a talk Christian Fong, Vice-Chair of the Generation Iowa Commission, gave to the Boone Young Professional group.

The article is full of statistics that highlight that low wages and high student loan debt is what is driving Iowa's brain drain.

Between 1995 and 2000, Iowa saw a migration of 7,302 individuals with less than a high school education come into the state, enticed by wages that are $3,262 higher than the country average. For those with a high school education, the state saw a 2,534 person jump in that five-year time frame, enticed by a wage premium of $611. For individuals with an associates degree, however, the state saw a drop of 28 individuals with wages $4,077 below the country's average. For individuals with a four-year degree, Iowa had 18,362 leave the state, as a result of a $9,302 wage gap.

While some may argue that cost-of-living makes up for the wage gap, statistics in the Generation Iowa Commission's status report say otherwise. The report notes that after adjusting for cost-of-living, Iowa pay still ranks second to last in the Midwest, followed only by South Dakota. Additionally, education costs are not included in cost-of-living, which adds to the debt. Iowa graduates carry the sixth-highest student loan rate in the country, with an average of $24,990 at graduation. The repayment of large student loans creates a long-term burden that nearly offsets all other cost-of-living advantages.

Currently, Iowa's workforce is peaking in size. In 10 years, however, Iowa's workforce will lose, on average, about 60,000 people every five years as older Iowans retire. This is equivalent to losing a large company like Principal Financial every year, Fong said.

With a four percent net loss of next generation Iowans each year from 2000-2007, Iowa is cost 10 percent of its economy.

"Brain drain can cripple a town's ability to see past what's always been," Fong said. "It takes young people to not realize that something wasn't impossible before."

Generation Iowa Commission to hold Campus Events to Highlight What Iowa has to Offer

Hey college students, be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Look at what Iowa has to offer and consider staying in the state after graduation.

From Generation Iowa...

Graduation is just around the corner. In this tough economy, searching for jobs may be right here in Iowa.

Iowa may have the career opportunities you are looking for and the Generation Iowa Commission has the tools to help. The Commission will be at Drake University, University of Northern Iowa and Western Iowa Tech Community College starting April 27th. Stop by the booth to learn about working and living in Iowa.

And oh yea... you can sign up to win a FREE IPOD TOUCH. Studying for finals won't seem so bad when you have a new IPOD touch.

Event information:
Drake University: Helmick Commons
Monday, April 27
11am-2pm

University of Northern Iowa: Maucker Student Union
Tuesday, April 28
11am-2pm

Western Iowa Tech Community College: WITCC Days Event
Wednesday, April 29
11am-2pm

Look for the Generation Iowa street team and yard signs around your campus for more information!!

Hope to see you there and good luck studying for those finals!

Investing in Brain Drain

Image via Wikipedia

A new book, called Hollowing Out the Middle: Why America's Small Towns are Dying and What Can be Done to Save Them by Patrick Carr and Maria Kefalas, looks at what is left behind after brain drain occurs.

The authors spent 18 months living in a small Iowa town to better understand the causes and effects of brain drain on rural communities. Their findings show that Iowa is investing tax dollars and have policies in place that encourage the best and brightest young people to leave the state.

They discovered that in spite of being hit hard by the loss of talented young people, these small towns put enormous resources and energy into encouraging them to go. Motivated by the best of intentions, they watch those who are most likely to succeed leave to make their fortunes elsewhere. But while bemoaning the fact that young people are their most valuable export, they invest little to nothing in the young people who choose to stay behind. And it is those young people who are their best chance for a future.

Talented people have always left small towns for bigger cities and brighter opportunities. But at the dawn of the twenty-first century the loss of educated young adults could spell the end of small-town America. Maria Kefalas and Patrick Carr suggest that there are signs of hope for the future of the rural town, but that it is a future that will look very different from the present.

A Place at the Table

Isaiah McGee wrote an article at the Generation Iowa website about House File 572 that would put more Iowans age 18-35 on various boards and commissions around the state.

This fall the Generation Iowa Commission reported that only 114 of 1,533 commission or board seats were held by Iowans age 35 or younger. These boards and commissions help establish & execute statewide decisions including funding for projects & programs that are attractive to the next generation. The Generation Iowa Commission called for legislation that added young Iowans to appropriate boards and commissions related to economic development and quality of life amenities that are recipients of state funds and the commission has been lobbying for legislation to that effect this session.

In a year where Iowa’s natural disasters & economic issues have made it easy for the Legislature to say no to most request, they appear to welcome House File 572. HF 572 was filed last week to put at least two young Iowans, 18-35 years old, on a number of boards and commissions. These boards of influence include the Board of Regents, Vision Iowa, Iowa Great Places, ethnic & human rights commissions, and many others. The bill passed out of committee and has large bi-partisan support with nearly a quarter of the legislature co-sponsoring the bill. With the bill out of committee that means it has made it through funnel week, and waits for passage by the full Iowa House of Representatives and a repeated process in the State Senate.

This bill is one way to help reverse Iowa's brain drain. By showing that Iowa is willing to listen to young adults and give them a chance to shape the state, the state will become more welcoming to young adults.

I am active in my community where I serve as chair of a city commission, am a member of a county board, am active in my local teacher association, and am active with my county Democratic party. I know that if I lived elsewhere I would not have these opportunities to be active and influence local decisions that I care about.

My advice to young adults who might be considering getting involved is to just show up. From my experience many local communities have been run by the same core group for awhile and they are eager to have new people come in. So go out and fill out at the application to the city board or show up at the monthly meeting.

Century of the Common Iowan Turns 3 Years Old

I glanced at the clock and saw there was just 5 minutes till midnight. I had forgotten that Monday marked the 3rd birthday for Century of the Common Iowan and I only had 5 minutes to put up a post to sum up those 3 years. Yeah right.

Well here's what I got written in an hour...

As I look back, it is interesting how the focus of the blog has evolved over those years. In the blogs first year I wrote a lot about issues such as the rising cost of college tuition and Iowa's Brain Drain, immigration, and the need for a trade policy that protects American jobs. Year two was all about the Iowa caucuses. The following year I was able to sit back and watch the primaries play out and lead up to the general election. With the 2008 elections behind us, I have been able to write more about policies and topics such as the emergence of Millennials, social media, education, and the need to invest in a creative economy.

3 years, 2,226 posts, and over 132,000 visitors later and here we are in the best of times, in the worst of times. Our current economic and political situation find us in a situation where remarkable change can take place (and if it doesn't, it's because we didn't make them do it) . It is time for big ideas. In the coming year I hope to focus on the big ideas that desmoinesdem laid out that I wrote about last month.

• Clean elections
• Promoting clean energy solutions
• Local control of hog confinements
• Passenger rail
  
• Rural broadband.

These are not new issues. Many I have written about since I started this blog, but now is the time to stop talking about these issues and start seeing real action. On the campaign trail, Barack Obama told the story that one voice can change a room, one room can change a city, one city can change a nation. It is my hope that over the past 3 years, I have been able to change 1 person's viewpoint on these key issues and encouraged 1 person to take action on these key issues.

I'd like to end by repeating what Rekha Basu wrote about activism that I posted about earlier today..

Still, it takes courage to be an activist. It requires putting yourself out there in public, daring to take the unpopular position and getting hostile feedback... But those who understand history know well the role activism has played in winning rights and making a more just, humane and accessible America.

Join in. Post comments. Attend your local Democratic central committee meeting. Call your State Legislators. Get active in a community group or city board. Start your own blog. Heck, run for local office.

It's time to make a ruckus. Let's go!

Sick and Tired of Iowa Being a Low Wage State

I try not to rant too much on this blog. I will leave that to Krusty. But after the prevailing wage bill failed to pass in the Iowa House I have to get something off my chest.

I am sick and tired of Iowa being a low wage state. There is no reason that we have to be a low wage state except that some Iowans think things shouldn't change, that things should always remain the way they used to be. They think that because they grew up watching Leave it to Beaver in small town Iowa then it should just stay like that. I wouldn't be surprised if these people want to change Iowa's name to East Dakota.

Iowa has one of the oldest population and more and more of Iowa's young adults are leaving the state. Iowa must make a commitment to raise wages in this state. The prevailing wage bill was just one way to demonstrate that Iowans are serious about paying a decent wage for a hard days work.

I wrote last week about the need to attract and retain young people in the state. We spend around 60% of the state budget on education and our return on investment is horrendous. The cream of the crop flee the state as soon as they graduate for 1 main reason: they can make more money elsewhere.

The Great Iowa Migration

This article is a must read for all Iowans.

“Iowa’s young people are going to leave. We just have to embrace it as part of what Iowa is. We export our young people around the world.” Fortunately that’s not the Board of Regents’ official strategy! But it is commonly held, and something I hear more often than I’d like. Think of it like an old-fashioned geometry proof:

Postulate 1: Our young people want to leave the state.
Therefore: You can’t keep them down on the farm (or in Iowa).
Q.E.D.

That is the attitude of many people. And whether it is said explicitly, or left unspoken, it has unfortunately been our working strategy during the last 50 years. Where does that get us? The Board of Regents report was clear: Without a change to our strategy, Iowa’s working age population will shrink.[...]

Why is this a problem? Young educated minds are a basic “raw ingredient” of the New Economy.

We simply must have the power of the ideas and energy of our educated next generation to reverse the trends shown in the Census Bureau graph, and get our state into the New Economy. Saying that we, as a state, are going to use our limited capital to educate them, then ship them out-of-state as they graduate is akin to – let me pick some online adjectives for impact – replacing our state logo with one of those barfing face emoticons. Purposefully paying to train, then not retaining, our young people is a profoundly idiotic, losing strategy. It’s the modern equivalent of planting crops with no regard for replenishing the soil’s nutrients, or caring about the topsoil’s stability. (The Midwest tried that strategy too, with the same outcome. See more on the economic impact of the Dust Bowl). Where does it get us?

Iowa is growing less educated at the 4th fast pace in the nation!

Iowa's Brain Drain is at a catastrophic level and if nothing changes to attract and retain the young people we invest so much in, the state's economic future will be non-existent. Education is something like 60% of the state budget and when the cream of the crop graduates they leave the state. We are not getting a very good return on investment.

The first change I would like to see is more student loan forgiveness programs. Make it so if a young person decides to stay in Iowa that they can be making payments on a house and not on paying back student loans.

The second change I would like to see is more attractions around the state. Those could range for more cultural districts to more outdoors activities. Iowa doesn't have any oceans or mountains, but we do have our share of lakes and rivers and those lakes and rivers are incredibly polluted. Clean up our waterways and attract more young people to our great state.

Crowdsourcing Places for Creatives

Before I became interested (or as my wife says, addicted) to politics, I was interested in urban planning.  I still keep up on planning issues, as I serve on the Plan and Zoning Commission in my town.

One of the planning websites that I visit frequently is CoolTown Studios. I love the site because it looks at things from a slightly different angle and highlights cool, authentic places that make neighborhoods and towns unique.  Last week, CoolTown Studios posted their top 20 articles of all time and I thought I'd share them here...

By popular request, here are what I feel are the top 20 articles among the 1400 on this site, influenced by current times. This will be constantly changing, especially as I rediscover previous articles and post new ones (in bold)...

Crowdsourcing and creatives…
The creatives: rengen, cultural creatives, creative class - Identifying the core market itself.
What is crowdsourced placemaking? - The most definitive definition.
The time is now to crowdsource the places you want - Get started now.
The beta community - The crowdsourced placemaking community that makes it all happen.
The four different kinds of beta communities - The four kinds of projects beta communities can help generate.

Placemaking…
The impact of natural cultural districts - The best academic definition for the places that attract creatives.
The third place - The fundamental unit of a natural cultural district.
Cultivating your own Temple Bar District - One of the most inspiring stories of how a natural cultural district was saved and now flourishing.
Happiness best reflected by the beauty of place - Aesthetics matter to people more than anything.
The ‘postcard test’ - A litmus test for a place’s aesthetics, beauty.

The economic foundation…
If there was ever one definitive graphic, this is it - A table that illustrates our evolution from an industrial to a knowledge economy.
Digital infrastructure replacing an asphalt one - The physical environment to accommodate modern needs.
The Experience Economy - A better description of our modern economy than simply ‘the information age’ or ‘knowledge economy’.
Creatives ahead of the financial crisis - How the preferences of creatives, and not so big homes, are better suited to a sustainable economy.
How the creative class relates to the economy - Visual evidence of how creatives grow an economy.

Innovative examples…
The most innovative government agency in the U.S. - The New York City Department of Transportation.
NYC's stunning 'streets to plazas' program - A model program for creating pedestrian-only destinations.
Ten defining principles for a true green community - Benchmark principles and communities for zero carbon, zero waste communities.
Paris launches world's largest bike sharing system - No bike sharing system in the world comes close.
Elements hits the Washington Post front page - A crowdsourced restaurant gets national exposure.

Recently dropped from the Top 20
More evidence that 'not so big homes' are in - Smaller homes are the creative American Dream
Affordability's secret weapon - the 'ipad’ - A stylish 380 s.f. one-bedroom in the UK.

So what does this have to do with Iowa politics?  Over the past two years, Iowa has focused on reversing the brain drain in the state.  Lawmakers are looking at different policies that would lower the cost of college, forgive student loans, and raise wages.  I think all of these are very important.  However, it wouldn't hurt for Iowa to build some more cool places. I am not just talking about building cool places in Des Moines, Iowa City, and Cedar Rapids, but in Iowa's small towns too.

Over the next few months, I hope to write more about how Iowa can build some of these cool places and highlight some of the cool places in Iowa.  

CootTown Studios defines crowdsourced placemaking as...

the act of taking development traditionally performed by real estate conglomerates and outsourcing it to a large, defined group of people in the form of an open call, to transform the places we find ourselves into the places where we live, as ‘places of the soul’ that uplift and help us connect to each other. 

 So to keep in line with those thoughts, feel free to chime in with your thoughts and share any cool places in your town.

Iowa Gets Poor Grade on College Affordability

A report released last week shows that college is too expensive in the state of Iowa.  The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education gave Iowa an F on Affordability.  Iowa gets good marks in college prepartion, participation, and completion.

PREPARATION: B

Iowa performs fairly well in preparing its young people for college, but there are large gaps by ethnicity.

• Eighth graders perform well in math, science, and reading, but their scores in writing are fairly low.
• Seventy-four percent of Hispanics have a high school credential, compared with 94% of whites.

PARTICIPATION: A

Iowa does well in providing college opportunities for young and working-age adults.

• The state is a top performer in the percentage of working-age adults enrolled in higher education.
• However, 24% of Hispanic young adults are enrolled in college, compared with 42% of whites.

AFFORDABILITY: F

Higher education has become less affordable for students and their families.

• Poor and working-class families must devote 40% of their income, even after aid, to pay for costs at two-year colleges.
• Financial aid to low-income students has declined. For every dollar in Pell Grant aid to students, the state spends only 33 cents-down from 40 cents in 1993.

COMPLETION: A

Iowa performs very well in awarding certificates and degrees.

• Sixty-three percent of college students complete a bachelor’s degree within six years.
• However, 50% of Hispanics graduate within six years, compared with 65% of whites.

This means that Iowa's investment in public education is paying off and preparing students to attend college.  These students are going to college and most are completing some sort of college program.  However, because college is not affordable these students are loaded with large student loan debt upon graduation.

This is a key cause of Iowa's Brain Drain.  Iowa needs to lower the cost of a college education in the state or we need a program to forgive student loan debt to encourage students to stay in Iowa after graduation.

Generation Iowa Recommendations to Stop Iowa's Brain Drain

Yesterday, the Generation Iowa Commission released updated recommendations to keep young people in Iowa.

The commission's report identifies Iowa's strengths, such as being one of top five importers of college students, and that at least 21 percent of Iowans having a college degree. It also identifies the state's weaknesses, such as being among the leading states in the loss of college-educated people, losing those residents at the fourth-highest rate in the nation. The report also cited the state's low wages - ranking nine-out-of-10 in a 10-state region - with wages that are 20 percent lower than the national average. [..]

The group presented a list of initial recommendations to lawmakers last spring. On Wednesday, it issued a second report with four additional recommendations on what can be done to attract and retain more young people in Iowa.

Those include:

-Providing more opportunities for young Iowans to be involved in state boards and commissions.

-Creating more high-wage, higher-education jobs.

-Expanding the Iowa Department of Economic Development Internship program for young Iowans in higher-education-oriented growth industries and link top Iowa college students with internships in small- and medium-sized businesses.

-Expanding education benefits for the AmeriCorps program to attract service-minded and educated young professionals.

Here are the recommendations from last spring from the Generation Iowa Commission.

Republican Jarret Heil to Run in Senate District 22

A week ago, I wrote about Republicans having a short time to find a candidate to replace Larry McKibben in Iowa Senate District 22.

On Friday, it was announced that Jarret Heil will be running for the seat on the Republican side. Heil grew up in Marshall County and then after graduating college went to work for Sen. Grassley in Washington DC. In October, Heil got married and moved back to Iowa to work for Rep. Latham.

When asked why he is running for the Iowa Senate Heil said, "I think it is important for people like myself, who benefited from the many opportunities Iowa offered, to give back to the community that gave so much to me."

I went to high school with Jarret and know him pretty well. I find it commendable that a young person moved back to Iowa and is willing to work to better their community.

Heil commented on Iowa's brain drain, a theme that I have written about numerous times...

“Many people leave Iowa after college never to return. I, on the other hand, took a few years to gain valuable experience and knowledge to bring back to a life of public service in the state I love,” Heil said.

In 2004, over $400,000 was spent by both sides for this seat which was won by the Republicans by less than 800 votes.

I will be writing often about this race since I live in this district and because it should be a tight race.

Student Loan Debt and Personal Responsibility

There is some great discussion going on in the comment section of a post I wrote about the Generation Iowa Commission Report. The Generation Iowa Commission said that low wage jobs and high student loan debt is leading to Iowa's Brain Drain and gave recommendations on how to reverse the trend.

The discussion is on student loan debt and personal responsibility. Please feel free to join in on the discussion.

Generation Iowa Report Calls for Cutting Debt, Higher Wages

Iowa is facing a worker shortfall. However, Iowa is a net importer on the number of college students, but has failed to keep these young people in the state after graduation.

Yesterday, the Generation Iowa Commission released their report on ways to stop Iowa's brain drain and keep young people in the state. The report calls for cutting the amount of student loan debt and for ways to increase wages.

The report recommends...

- A higher-education tax credit. Iowans who have earned degrees in the past 10 years should be provided an annual income tax credit of $1,500 for bachelor's degrees and $2,000 for a graduate or professional degree.

- A targeted student-loan repayment assistance program. Students graduating in "critical need professions" should receive loan repayment assistance three times over 10 years, ranging from $1,000 to $5,000.

- Change Iowa's economic development incentives to require higher salaries. Iowa should stop including the value of employee benefits, such as health insurance, when meeting pay requirements for state incentives and look only at salary, the group said. "A company can claim to be paying above average wages, when in fact the take-home pay is lower than comparative jobs."

Recommendations also addressed issues such as matching young workers with careers and improving Iowa cities and towns:

- Create a merit-based scholarship program with residency expectations. Attracting and retaining the nation's best students could help "drive explosive growth."

- Eliminate or limit "noncompete" contract clauses in state government and private businesses. The group said the clauses "inhibit competition in the work force and drive top, young professionals out of state to start businesses or further their career."

- Create or support an online statewide job and internship exchange.

I agree with many of the groups recommendations. I have pointed out many times that student loan debt is driving Iowa's brain drain. These recommendations would be a great start to keep young Iowans to stay in the state.

I wish the group would have mentioned ways to stop rising tuition rates at Iowa's colleges and universities that causes the large amount of student loan debt.

Student Loan Debt Drives Iowa's Brain Drain

The Generation Iowa Commission held their first public meeting yesterday and the conclusion was that student loan debt and the rising cost of college tuition are the driving force behind Iowa's brain drain.

From the Des Moines Register...

"As long as student loans are as big as they are around here, we are forcing people to make that decision" to seek employment outside of Iowa, said Kyle Carlson, chair of the Generation Iowa Commission.

Carlson, 27, is a recent graduate of Drake University's law school and works as an attorney for Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa. He carries roughly $200,000 in student debt, which works out to monthly payments of more than $1,000.

That's more than his mortgage payments.

"I could go to Chicago, do the same job and make $30,000 more a year, but I don't want to," said Carlson, who grew up in Waverly. "I'm probably in the minority, but I think we can do things to make this state a better place to live."

I have written about this issue numerous times on this blog. When you have monster payments on your student loans, it is logical to go where you can make more money and a lot of times that place is not in Iowa.

The Generation Iowa Commission is looking at ways to keep young Iowans in the state. The question they need to answer is should the state do something to forgive student loans for people who stay in Iowa or should they just try and make college more affordable for everyone, so that people don't end up with so much student loans.

Who says young people don't care?

87 people age 18 to 35 have submitted applications to be on the new Generation Iowa Commission to help reverse Iowa's Brain Drain.

From the Cedar Rapids Gazette...

As part of Iowa's strategy to retain and recruit young people, the Legislature approved and Culver signed a measure (House File 617) to establish the Generation Iowa Commission -- a 15-member panel made up of young Iowans between the ages of 18 and 35.

As of this week, the governor's office has received 87 applications from young Iowans wanting to serve on the board -- representing young Iowans from at least 20 counties with a diverse racial make-up that is divided among Democrats, Republicans and independents.

The application deadline to be on the commission is May 15th.

I have written numerous times about this problem and the bill that was authored by Rep. Elesha Gayman. It will be interesting to see what this commission accomplishes.

Generation Iowa Commission Signed by Culver

The Generation Iowa Commission was signed in to law by Gov. Chet Culver yesterday. The Generation Iowa Commission has the goal to stop Iowa's brain drain and keep young adults in the state.

The author of the bill is Rep. Elesha Gayman, who is from rural Scott Co. She writes about the bill on her blog for the Quad City times, where she asks..

But why should the common Iowan care?

I am glad she asks for my opinion. Currently, Iowa's biggest export is our well educated youth. We are investing in providing a high quality education to our children through public education, then we let the product of that bolt out the door at the first chance they get. To keep Iowa growing, we need to keep the product of our quality education system in the state, so that we can reap the benefits.

Rep. Gayman says...

If keeping your family and friends nearby is not a good enough reason, may I suggest that it is in your best financial interest? As the population continues to age and our tax base erodes, who is going to pay for schools, healthcare, roads, public safety and prisons? Why would a company even consider coming to Iowa if there aren’t enough workers?

I’m sure many folks wish I would stop talking about it, but I think we are finally starting to make progress. At a time when our workforce is aging and baby boomers are approaching retirement, it has become clear that we don’t have enough people to fill the ranks. Iowans are starting to wake up and realize our state ranks near last in retaining college graduates.

Rep. Gayman explains the details of the bill..

Our Generation Iowa bill was signed by the Governor today. It creates a Generation Iowa Commission comprised of 15, 18 to 35 year olds from diverse backgrounds who will be charged with three tasks: make recommendations to the legislature on how to keep and retain young people; promote and market Iowa to help recruit business, new industry, and young people; and create best practices for employers who are looking to keep and retain young talent.

Generation Iowa will be the needed foundation to an issue that is the single biggest challenge to our state’s successful economic future.

This is good start on reversing the trend of Iowa's brain drain. It will be interesting to follow what comes out of the Generation Iowa Commission.

Bill Tackles Student Loan Debt in Attempt to Keep Young Iowans in Iowa

I have written that one reason Iowa's young people are leaving the state is because of higher student loan debt when they have graduated college. Here is what I wrote back in September...

However, young people decide if they want to stay in Iowa when they graduate from college and today our young people are finding themselves graduating with a ton of debt from student loans from tuition nearly doubling since 2000.

Let's say a young Iowan graduates with a degree in education and has $50,000 of debt from student loans. Will that person decide to get a job in Iowa and make $30,000 a year or will they go to Texas and make over $40,000. How about a nurse who graduates with $50,000 of student loan debt. They can choose to stay in Iowa and make $30,000 a year or go to Minneapolis or Kansas City and make $45,000. A pharmacy graduate with student loan debt can stay in Iowa and make $90,000 or head elsewhere and earn well over $100,000.

These people may like Iowa, but that extra money sure would help pay off the amount of student loan debt they have accumalated. What choice would you make?

There is a bill being debated that addressess this issue. From the Des Moines Register...

One way Iowa can keep young people in the state is for employers who hire them to pay back all or part of their student loans in exchange for a tax credit from the state, one professor says.

College graduates could see their loan debt - up to $25,000 - erased within three years under House File 730, a bill supported by Democrats and Republicans in the Iowa Legislature.

Employers would have a competitive edge over those in neighboring states with an unusual way to recruit new graduates for hard-to-fill or competitive jobs, said University of Iowa business professor Jay Christensen-Szalanski, who came up with the idea.

Generation Iowa Commission to Stop Iowa's Brain Drain

From the Sioux City Journal...

Four lawmakers age 30 and younger, including Rep. Elesha Gayman, D-Davenport, want to create a Generation Iowa Commission to make recommendations on how best to keep young, educated adults from leaving Iowa. Statehouse leaders have tried numerous strategies to keep the best and brightest at home -- including an ill-fated bill two years ago that would have exempted Iowans under 30 from paying income tax.

I know Elesha Gayman and know that keeping young Iowans in the state is one of her top priorities. Gayman writes...

The “Generation Iowa” initiative will be housed in the Department of Economic Development and it will serve three purposes; make recommendations to the legislature on behalf of young Iowans, help the Economic Development Department recruit businesses and promote Iowa, and finally outline best practices for businesses to utilize when trying to recruit and retain young people.

It is also a subject that I have written about numerous times, including these posts about rising cost of college, our debt for diploma system, and investing in our Universities.

It is good to see Elesha and other young legislators taking action this issue.

Rising Tuition Increases Iowa's Brain Drain

Kyle at Diary of a Political Madman posted about rising tuition costs at Iowa's state universities. Kyle nailed it when he wrote...

U of I students will be forced to work more and take bigger loans to cover tuition increases. In a related but somehow unreported story, upon graduation those same students will likely leave the state for better paying jobs in bigger cities to help pay off their loans.

Rising college tuition has been an ongoing focus of this blog. Back in September, I wrote this...

It takes more than just getting young people in college for them to stay in Iowa. Yepsen's article shows that they are going to college. However, young people decide if they want to stay in Iowa when they graduate from college and today our young people are finding themselves graduating with a ton of debt from student loans from tuition nearly doubling since 2000.

Let's say a young Iowan graduates with a degree in education and has $50,000 of debt from student loans. Will that person decide to get a job in Iowa and make $30,000 a year or will they go to Texas and make over $40,000. How about a nurse who graduates with $50,000 of student loan debt. They can choose to stay in Iowa and make $30,000 a year or go to Minneapolis or Kansas City and make $45,000. A pharmacy graduate with student loan debt can stay in Iowa and make $90,000 or head elsewhere and earn well over $100,000.

These people may like Iowa, but that extra money sure would help pay off the amount of student loan debt they have accumalated. What choice would you make?

**Update**
In a related story, Democrats plan on cutting interest rates on college loans.

Invest in Universities to Keep Young People in the State

David Goodner, of Straight out of the Cornfield, is right on with this assessment of how to keep more young people to stay in Iowa.

Invest in universities

The next governor can retain and attract young people to Iowa by investing in an education economy, by developing the university industrial complex.

Young people want to do meaningful work in occupations with good wages and benefits. We also want to live in a rich cultural environment, where our viewpoints and lifestyles are respected.

We need cheaper tuition and incentives for nursing and education majors. We need to devote more resources to engineering, medicine, law and the sciences. We need to expand international studies, cultural geography and human-rights programs.

Young people will be challenged to stay here if we make Iowa an international center of education.
— David Goodner, Iowa City

I have written abou this issue numerous times (1, 2, 3) on this blog.

Then this past week, Diary of a Political Madman had this story about the Board of Regents being rumored to say they were going to cut all funding to the state universities.

Some University of Iowa faculty and staff are puzzled by statements attributed to Iowa state Board of Regents officials that UI should plan as though it would receive zero funding from the Legislature in the next five to 10 years.

They say they are even more puzzled that the regents -- President Michael Gartner and President Pro Tem Teresa Wahlert -- deny saying them.

Supporting our Universities is investing in our future.