COLUMBUS, Ohio — Editor's Note: The above video is part of our Education Station series
A Republican lawmaker is proposing legislation to attract and retain Ohio college students through a series of grants, scholarships and tax breaks.
In a bill from Rep. Jon Cross (R-Kenton), graduates of any Ohio college, public or private, who take a full-time job in the state would be exempt from state income tax for up to three years.
Businesses that offer paid college internships would receive a tax break, the state would offer up to 100 merit-based scholarships of $25,000 to out-of-state students, and more money would be added to Ohio’s college grant fund for students with associate degrees pursuing a bachelor’s.
According to Cross' bill, students would have to be in the top 5% of their graduating class and pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math to receive the out-of-state scholarships.
Cross, who serves as chairperson of the House Finance Subcommittee on Higher Education, didn’t have a price tag for his proposal. He believes the cost has to be weighed against the potential revenue gain of people staying in the state or coming to Ohio as a result of the incentives.
At one time, Ohio had 24 congressional districts, but because of population shifts in other parts of the country it’s down to 15. Cross believes his legislation should put the state in position to return to 24.
Cross said creative approaches are necessary, noting that plenty of other states provide incentives to attract students, including Alabama, which offers generous scholarships to qualifying out-of-state students.
“Who the hell wants to go to Alabama? I don’t,” Cross said. “But there’s a pipeline of students in Ohio that go to Alabama. So we have to get competitive.”
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