Buying Ohioans loyalty? How state financial aid affects brain drain

Brain drain is a perennial issue concerning cities and markets of all sizes both here in the United States and abroad. Brain drain, or the loss of skilled human capital, often deprives cities of many of its most talented students – students in whom a state may have invested tens of thousands of dollars. Ambitious and educated young students often form ‘a striving class of young Americans for whom race, ethnicity and geographic origin tend to be less meaningful then professional achievement, business connections and income' (Harden, 2003). And since job and schooling opportunities often draw these students and their incomes (and tax revenues) away from their home states, states have become increasingly attuned to competitive strategies that might stem this loss.