‘Retain Alabama’ effort looks to keep college grads home

By MARY SELL, Alabama Daily News

Knowing that nearly half of Alabama’s public university bachelor’s degree earners are working in other states five years after they graduate, state leaders are funding more efforts to keep that talent pool at home.

In the 2022 state education budget, lawmakers allocated $800,000 for a new “Retain Alabama” initiative to introduce college students to opportunities for them in the Yellowhammer state.

“Our state has been a low-growth state and we have to do all we can to retain that knowledge capital that we’re losing every year when they leave,” said Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, chairman of the Senate education budget committee.

The earmark was prompted by the 2020 Alabama Commission on Higher Education Employment Outcomes Report, the first statewide study of how Alabama graduates, from certificate holders to those with doctoral degrees, are faring in the workforce.

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