Nebraska has a brain drain problem.
Some of the most recent U.S Census Bureau data places Nebraska at third worst in the country for losing college–educated people to other places, trailing only behind North Dakota and New York, according to the Aksarben Foundation.
One of the ways Nebraskan leaders decided to push back against these statistics is through the Growing Together initiative, which includes Wayne State College’s Career Scholars program.
“Their data shows the program has graduated two cohorts of students totaling 64,” Tracy Lungrin, Director of Career Services and Workforce Development, said. “Out of those 64 students, 98% of those graduates found a job or continued their education and remained in Nebraska, and then 55% of those graduates have remained in northeast Nebraska.”
But the success of the program relies on more than just the creators laying out good ideas.
“The community has to be very much a part of selling the value to their community, saying ‘Hey, we need to create opportunities for these students if we want this type of talent,’”Lungrin said.
Some of the most recent U.S Census Bureau data places Nebraska at third worst in the country for losing college–educated people to other places, trailing only behind North Dakota and New York, according to the Aksarben Foundation.
One of the ways Nebraskan leaders decided to push back against these statistics is through the Growing Together initiative, which includes Wayne State College’s Career Scholars program.
“Their data shows the program has graduated two cohorts of students totaling 64,” Tracy Lungrin, Director of Career Services and Workforce Development, said. “Out of those 64 students, 98% of those graduates found a job or continued their education and remained in Nebraska, and then 55% of those graduates have remained in northeast Nebraska.”
But the success of the program relies on more than just the creators laying out good ideas.
“The community has to be very much a part of selling the value to their community, saying ‘Hey, we need to create opportunities for these students if we want this type of talent,’”Lungrin said.
Another program at WSC, the Rural Health Opportunities Program, refines its aim further, to develop rural Nebraskans into health professionals ready to return and serve rural Nebraska.
“In the shadowing that I’ve been doing it has been helpful to see that it is still possible to have a career that’s flourishing in rural Nebraska where you can have good support and good connections,” Dakota Guthrie, an occupational therapy track RHOP junior, said. “I’m really appreciative for RHOP and the opportunities it’s given me. Especially as college is getting more expensive, to be able to give a good program and pathway for students that know they want to go into the health field and have a heart for serving rural Nebraska, giving them a good opportunity to do that is amazing.”
Some people see it as not just a good opportunity, but perhaps even an opportunity that sets its students up for success better than other programs.
“Their science programs are super, super rigorous at Wayne and a lot of other schools also recognize that,” Jordyn Coe, a RHOP nursing student who is now at UNMC, said. “They know that our science programs really prepare us for the higher level of work of our graduate programs or nursing school, and I would say I have not done a single thing in nursing school thus far that was harder than my physiology course at Wayne.”
Despite the difficulty of the classes, Guthrie said the guaranteed spot in medical school takes a load off her shoulders.
“Being able to take the grades and competition out of it has been able to allow me to focus more on my studying, learning and actually grasping the material over trying to get the top grade,” Guthrie said. “It’s also helped me with networking and reaching out to students and helping out instead of feeling like I’m in the game.”
“In the shadowing that I’ve been doing it has been helpful to see that it is still possible to have a career that’s flourishing in rural Nebraska where you can have good support and good connections,” Dakota Guthrie, an occupational therapy track RHOP junior, said. “I’m really appreciative for RHOP and the opportunities it’s given me. Especially as college is getting more expensive, to be able to give a good program and pathway for students that know they want to go into the health field and have a heart for serving rural Nebraska, giving them a good opportunity to do that is amazing.”
Some people see it as not just a good opportunity, but perhaps even an opportunity that sets its students up for success better than other programs.
“Their science programs are super, super rigorous at Wayne and a lot of other schools also recognize that,” Jordyn Coe, a RHOP nursing student who is now at UNMC, said. “They know that our science programs really prepare us for the higher level of work of our graduate programs or nursing school, and I would say I have not done a single thing in nursing school thus far that was harder than my physiology course at Wayne.”
Despite the difficulty of the classes, Guthrie said the guaranteed spot in medical school takes a load off her shoulders.
“Being able to take the grades and competition out of it has been able to allow me to focus more on my studying, learning and actually grasping the material over trying to get the top grade,” Guthrie said. “It’s also helped me with networking and reaching out to students and helping out instead of feeling like I’m in the game.”
A third program at WSC, the Rural Law Opportunities Program, is now led by criminal justice professor Rachel Kunz, who said she wished she had the program available to her when she was a WSC student.
WSC’s RLOP program was launched in 2016 by a WSC grad who was inspired by RHOP and saw a need for rural law practitioners in Nebraska.
WSC’s RLOP program was launched in 2016 by a WSC grad who was inspired by RHOP and saw a need for rural law practitioners in Nebraska.
“I don’t really see any downside to joining RLOP if you are interested in law school,” Kunz said. “I think it’s all positive in the way of the financial help that you get for all of this process, but also just the opportunity to know people who are also interested in law school and to be able to know professors who are going to help you get there.”
As great and helpful these three programs are, they all have similar limitations, namely the limits to the numbers of students they can include. This means Nebraska will have to find other ways to keep graduates who did not fit in these programs.
“I would say the end–all be–all of keeping people in Nebraska would be the pay,” Coe said. “Especially for nursing, you can go anywhere in the country right now and get paid incentive. If you’re a travel nurse, you’re getting paid incentive for traveling, or depending on what state you go to you could get higher pay. So at the end of the day, it’s going to be important for Nebraska hospitals to be more competitive with pay.”
The feeling is similar for rural law.
“I think they’re doing a lot with the Nebraska State Bar Association to change the perspective of rural attorneys,” Kunz said. “Usually people stay in bigger cities because there’re more opportunities, but then they also get paid more and there’s quote unquote less stress because you’re not more of a general practitioner, but you can kind of be specialized. And so I think they’re pushing really hard to say ‘No, rural communities also have a lot of the same things to offer.’”
“I would say the end–all be–all of keeping people in Nebraska would be the pay,” Coe said. “Especially for nursing, you can go anywhere in the country right now and get paid incentive. If you’re a travel nurse, you’re getting paid incentive for traveling, or depending on what state you go to you could get higher pay. So at the end of the day, it’s going to be important for Nebraska hospitals to be more competitive with pay.”
The feeling is similar for rural law.
“I think they’re doing a lot with the Nebraska State Bar Association to change the perspective of rural attorneys,” Kunz said. “Usually people stay in bigger cities because there’re more opportunities, but then they also get paid more and there’s quote unquote less stress because you’re not more of a general practitioner, but you can kind of be specialized. And so I think they’re pushing really hard to say ‘No, rural communities also have a lot of the same things to offer.’”
Beyond improving pay and perceptions, Lungrin said she feels like she needs to teach employers how to recruit so graduates can see the opportunities that are open to them.
“This is just one example, rural employers don’t post things,” Lungrin said. “The candidate pool that you will get is phenomenal, so post it, don’t hold on to it. I think they’re using a lot of old–school methods. But at least put a position out there.”
“This is just one example, rural employers don’t post things,” Lungrin said. “The candidate pool that you will get is phenomenal, so post it, don’t hold on to it. I think they’re using a lot of old–school methods. But at least put a position out there.”
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