How to keep Michigan's college graduates in Michigan

Brain drain is a problem on all fronts. And the stats, unfortunately, aren't also so rosy when looking at Michigan grads that left Michigan. Yet, in this commentary in the Detroit News, a solution is given by looking at the drain as a business equation with a business solution.

Excerpt:

According to a report by MichiganFuture.org, nearly 50 percent of recent Michigan graduates left our state within a year of graduation. If that departure rate applies to every public university in Michigan, then taxpayers are literally spending $1 billion per year to build the work forces of other states. No state can recover when it is exporting its tax dollars and college graduates.

Our state economy cannot afford this, our state budget cannot afford this, and our families should not have to endure this. The brain drain has to stop. To do so, Michigan must compete for our children.

This competition for Michigan's best and brightest starts with changes in our business tax structure. And we must compete to keep our world-class graduates, trained with our tax dollars, right here in Michigan. That's why offering college graduates who choose to remain in Michigan a three-year tax exemption should be a part of any plan to turn around Michigan's economy.

Read the entire article here.

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