Some of Iowa's top high school graduates who were named to the Register's Academic All-State te... Iowa needs jobs to keep us h

Some of Iowa's top high school graduates who were named to the Register's Academic All-State teams during the past five years reveal why many left to study out of state and why a few stayed. Read more of their thoughts at DesMoinesRegister.com.

"Iowa should not be afraid to lose some young people. Midwesterners who relocate to other parts of the country are a great advertisement for the state. Iowa needs to be concerned if it cannot bring in other young people - especially young families - to live."

"To me it is extremely important to live in different places and experience different parts of the country and world. I think that I would feel the same desire to attend school out of state whether I had gone to high school in Iowa or New York City."

"I went to Iowa State because I was offered a full scholarship, and for the money I did not believe an Ivy League school was worth it because our universities are very good. However, tuition keeps rising, and I'm not sure our universities are making as good a sell as they used to."

"Iowa needs more good jobs available to keep people around. The other big factor that keeps me from coming back to Iowa is the closed-mindedness that I witnessed, especially in a small community. I found the racism, sexism and homophobia present in my high school and the rest of the community appalling."

"I see Iowa as a great place to raise a family. Here at school, some of my friends ... like to make fun of me for being from Iowa, but I wouldn't trade my childhood years for anything."

"I return to Iowa every winter and summer break. I don't just return to see my parents; I really miss Iowa. After seeing much of the world, I can honestly say that Iowa is a beautiful place full of beautiful people. I feel more at home in the Loess Hills of western Iowa than I do anywhere else. Somehow, I never realized this until I left for an extended period of time."

Iowa is "a place to come from. I still feel attached to the place and to some of the people, but I'm making a new life for myself here on the East Coast, and I don't feel compelled to give that up."

"People perceive Iowa as being solely farms and small towns, so I think that more attractions in Des Moines, and better advertising of them, would educate people of the more urban side of Iowa."

"My perception of Iowa is a place that you could almost mindlessly live your whole life in because there are so many opportunities. I think of Iowa more in terms of what it lacks than what it has, because the list is much shorter: big cities, rapid pace of life, and year-round warm weather."

Financial incentives from Iowa colleges sway a few of the state's top high school seniors to remain in-state each year, but the majority leave.

If Iowa's most brilliant young adults decide to return, most say it will be because it is a good place to raise a family - or because good jobs have been created in the state.

The Des Moines Register tracked down 37 of the past 50 Academic All-State honorees to find out if they are part of Iowa's "brain drain," the trend of top students leaving the state. Every year, 10 of Iowa's most well-rounded, high-achieving students earn this Register award. The 2007 Academic All-State team will be announced in Sunday's Register.

Of those 37 elite students, 95 percent still have family in Iowa. But 35 percent say they aren't likely to return. About the same number said they would consider living in Iowa. A third aren't sure.

The issue comes up each year as Iowa bids goodbye to some of its brightest minds. The state is expected to have a worker shortage, making it a concern for employers. To address the brain drain, Gov. Chet Culver this month approved a Generation Iowa Committee to help attract and retain top young workers. But will their efforts make a difference?

"There isn't a state that doesn't want to keep the best and brightest," said Mark Harding, director of admissions for Iowa State University, which was the school of choice for eight of the 12 Academic All-State members who stayed in Iowa. "No matter what the effort, students are recruited from all over the world. You wouldn't put it past anyone for wanting to go to Harvard, and there's nothing wrong with thinking it's one of the best."

The students, most of whom are still in college, are hungry for job opportunities. They want business opportunities unrelated to insurance. They dream about Iowa building its engineering industry, about making agriculture more environmentally friendly, about creating high-tech opportunities like those that might be available in Silicon Valley.

"Not just Gateway in Sioux City, but real, bleeding-edge high-tech companies like Intel or nVidia or Google" are what Kevin Riggle, a 2004 Sioux Center grad now at MIT wants.

Justin Mason, a 2003 Storm Lake grad now at Iowa State, had back-to-back internships at Microsoft in Seattle. He plans to return. He also has spent time studying in Mexico and traveling through Central America.

"There is zero likelihood of me staying in Iowa," Mason said. "It's not so much to do with this being Iowa. While I'm young, I want to take advantage of traveling and seeing other parts of the world."

Harding said that studies show more students come to Iowa for college than leave the state. Still, Iowa universities do try to attract Iowans, which is difficult because the top students often have numerous offers.

"In fact, it is only by letting us leave that we will realize why we would want to come back," Lockhart said. "That said ... once young people have gained the perspective associated with leaving, they become extremely valuable to the state."

The 37 Academic All-State alumni suggested many ways to retain top students. A few say Iowa shouldn't change - that the state must remain a safe place with a beautiful landscape, clean air and good schools. But others say it should develop its larger cities and create more opportunities for culture, nightlife and diversity.

In or out of Iowa, most of those surveyed feel a strong connection to home. Eric Wilson, a 2004 Dubuque Hempstead graduate at ISU, sees the benefit of Iowa's low cost of living and his familiarity with the place.

"I genuinely like the drastic changes in the weather as the seasons change, and the landscape of rolling hills, and the river by Dubuque, and the smaller-town feel of many places," he said. "I don't know whether or not I will live in Iowa in the future. It depends where I can find a job after grad school."

"I think that young people leaving leads to a very negative spiral," said Jordan Sorensen, a 2005 Guthrie Center grad now at MIT. "Iowa needs more prominent, successful businesses in order to keep people here, but with young people leaving, the chance of people starting and building new businesses there gets smaller and smaller."

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