A bill in the Ohio House of Representatives that has recently reached committee would, if passed, give a tax credit of up to $30,000 to Ohio college students who graduate with a degree in math, engineering or the natural sciences.
House Bill 359, sponsored by Rep. Earl Martin, R-Avon Lake, and introduced in September, is designed to combat the trend of Ohio college graduates leaving the state. According to a 2001 Baccalaureate and Beyond study by the National Center for Education Statistics, 35 percent of all students receiving degrees in Ohio leave the state.
The bill would give students majoring in science and math an incentive to stay in Ohio after they graduate and in turn spurn economic development in the state, said Rep. Jimmy Stewart, R-Athens.
It's one way but by no means the only way to encourage people who have gone to school in Ohio to stay in Ohio and work here after they finish college
Stewart said.
The bill is designed to give students graduating with a B.A. in engineering, mathematics or the natural sciences a $20,000 non-refundable tax credit. In the case of a master's degree or a doctoral degree, graduates would receive a $30,000 non-refundable tax credit.
In particular, the bill would give priority to students studying information technology, power and propulsion, advanced materials, instruments and controls, electronics and biotechnology, and biosciences. These are the areas that have been identified by lawmakers as the most likely to contribute to job creation in the state, Martin said.
Those are the core areas that we know we need to cultivate these fields in order to create businesses that rely on these degrees he said.
Some science students at Ohio University said the tax credit would be welcomed, but it wouldn't necessarily keep them from leaving Ohio after graduation.
There is a high possibility that I'll leave the area said Christopher Haas, an Honors Tutorial College astrophysics major. This would definitely be a thing to consider before leaving.
Students often need to leave the state to pursue graduate degrees or to follow job opportunities, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland study, which cites statistics that nearly 45 percent of college graduates leaving Ohio do so because of employment.
It depends more on job prospects than the money
said Greg Rosen, an Honors Tutorial College physics major.
Stewart said employment opportunities in the state do influence students' choices on where to work, but the bill may help sway students to stay in Ohio.
There are many factors
he said. That is certainly one of them
and I suspect it will make an impact.
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