Graduates from Ohio's universities are leaving the state for better opportunities, and Ohio University is no different with about one-third of undergraduates leaving Ohio after graduation.
Compared with other parts of the country, Ohio has a lower rate of economic growth, and the number of jobs and the pay are growing less rapidly, said Richard Vedder, distinguished professor of economics at OU.
"The average compensation (in Ohio) went from being above the national average a couple of decades ago to being below the national average," said Vedder, who researched Census Bureau statistics, which show lower growth in Ohio compared with other states.
Ohio residents are moving from the state to places like Chicago and Denver because there are greater opportunities there, Vedder said.
"People living in Ohio perceive that other states are better," he said. "More are moving out of Ohio than are moving in."
Of the OU graduates from the 2000-01 year, 31 percent are employed in other states, said Joni Schaller, assistant director in Institutional Research. This percentage varies between residents and nonresidents. In 2001, 79 percent of nonresidents, people who lived outside of Ohio before coming to OU, moved out of state while only 26 percent of residents, people who lived in state before OU, went out of state.
Also, the more education received the more likely the student will leave. From 1997 to 2000, an average of 64 percent of the Ph.D. graduates from OU left the state while only an average of 33 percent of the bachelor graduates left Ohio, according to OU's Institutional Research statistics.
Census Scope, an organization that compiles and interprets census data, Ohio ranked 44th in population growth compared with the other states and Washington, D.C. Ohio's population grew 4.67 percent between 1990 and 2000. By comparison, the population of Nevada, ranked No. 1, grew by 66.27 percent, according to the Census Scope Web site, http://www.censusscope.org/us/rank_popl_growth.html.
Julie Mann, a 2002 graduate from OU's College of Business, left Ohio and moved to Charlotte, N.C., because no one in Ohio offered her a job, but she also wanted to live in a new place.
"Ohio didn't seem like an exciting way to go," Mann said. "I wanted to experience new things. I wanted to see what else the country had to offer other than Ohio."
Rajindar Koshal, an OU economics professor who does research in educational economics, said Ohio was lacking in opportunities in technical and computer careers. He said that not only students from OU but also students across Ohio are leaving the state to look for better jobs.
J.T. Brooks, a 1991 graduate who grew up in Ironton, did just that. She graduated with a degree in Industrial Systems Engineering from OU.
"Ever since graduating from OU in '91, I have always tried to get a job in Ohio but never had any luck," Brooks said.
Even though many leave Ohio, most undergraduates stay in Ohio.
Sean Hughes, the assistant director of marketing in communications with the OU Alumni Association, is responsible for communicating with alumni throughout the world.
There are 60 alumni association chapters throughout the world and the United States. The one in Central Ohio is the biggest with about 41,000 graduates, and Cleveland is the second largest, Hughes said.
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