Chris Jovenelli is a senior at USM, and hopes to someday become an executive producer for large scale video productions and produce his own documentaries. He will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in media studies, which in most states would be enough to launch a promising video production career. But, although Jovenelli loves the way of life here, he admits he is pursuing graduate work outside the state. “With a bachelor’s degree in media, in Portland right now, with the job market as it is, my pickings are going to be slim,” he said. And even with a graduate degree he does not expect to find a job locally. “Jobs just aren’t here in Maine,” Jovenelli said. “I’ve watched my friends with computer and science degrees look for work in Southern New Hampshire, Massachusetts and further.” He said he hopes to return to Maine once he has more experience, but is unsure if he will be able to.
Jovenelli is just one of an increasing number of Maine’s college-bound or educated students choosing to leave the state in search of better educational and employment opportunities. According to research done by the University of Maine, 50,000 young people have left the state in the last two decades, and Maine currently has the fourth oldest population in the country. If trends continue senior citizens could make up as much as 21 percent of all Mainers by the year 2020.
Around 50 percent of Maine’s high school graduates attend college outside the state and remain there after graduation, according to a study by the Finance Authority of Maine and the Center for Education Policy at USM. This worries state legislators, who cite an aging workforce and the loss of Maine’s youth to creating what has been dubbed the “brain drain,” leaving the state with an increasingly under-educated and unskilled labor force.
Maine Senate President Beverly Dagget, D-Augusta and House Speaker Pat Colwell, D-Gardiner founded the Advisory Task Force on Creating a Future for Youth in to produce legislation to halt the out-migration of Maine’s youth. The 13-member panel, headed by Speaker Colwell and former House Speaker Elizabeth “Libby” Mitchell, the external affairs fellow for the USM Muskie School of Public Service, first met on September 5 to discuss ways to keep young people in Maine and entice young workers around the country to relocate here.
The task force last met on Oct 17 at Brewer High School, where members found the majority of students in attendance felt high schools needed more extensive college preparatory courses and guidance programs. The students said schools should present information on higher education sooner, so students can better prepare themselves for college. Many students also said tracking systems in schools discourage kids from pursuing a college degree, because it makes many of them think a degree is unnecessary. Libby Mitchell said this has to stop. “If nothing else, we need to change the attitude that K-12 is sufficient, because you can no longer make it if you don’t get some education beyond high school. We shouldn’t be funneling students into a direction that is a dead end for them. That’s just wrong.”
In its second meeting, held at USM on Oct 2, the task force asked education officials to recommend ways to retain and attract young people for the Maine workforce. “The number one thing obviously which everyone continues to talk about is a decent paying job,” said Co-Chair Libby Mitchell. USM President Richard Pattenaude said “If the issue is jobs, then the answer is education,” pointing to the need for improvements in adult education to graduate and doctoral programs in Maine. The meeting focused on ways the state’s public university system could better provide and promote Maine’s higher education and career development services. “Things that are rising to the top of the list are opportunities for internships, student loan forgiveness or repayment, more opportunities for guidance to students at the high school level, and financial aid packages,” said Co-Chair Libby Mitchell. She noted many such resources already exist, but are poorly marketed to students.
For those Maine students who do seek higher education, many attend private schools outside the state where endowments and more generous financial aid packages make it more affordable. Mitchell said “We need to look at our financial aid packages and we’ll be looking to the universities for ways to keep tuition down.” But she admits she and the task force lack a simple answer to any of the questions raised in their meetings so far. They will hold a final task force meeting November14th to discuss what they have learned, and report back to the State Legislature by the first week in December with their proposals.
But for Jovenelli, any legislation produced by the task force meetings comes too late. After graduate school, he plans to seek employment in cities like Boston, where opportunities for educated workers are easier to find. “A lot of young folks are starving for excitement, money and success. They probably won’t find that right now here in Maine.”
For more information on The Advisory Task Force on Creating a Future for Youth in Maine go to www.state.me.us/legis/opla/meyouth.htm.
Amy Bickford can be contacted at [email protected]