Ohio promotes aid to fight ‘brain drain’

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Ohio is looking to boost interest in a year-old program that aims to fight the state’s “brain drain” problem by offering homebuying help as an enticement for recent college graduates to stay in Ohio, officials said Monday.

Since it started in October 2009, 120 people have taken advantage of the “Grants for Grads” program operated by Ohio Housing Finance Agency. It offers graduates of Ohio colleges who have been out of school no more than 18 months grants worth up to 2.5 percent of the purchase price of a first home and reduced 30-year mortgage rates.

Recipients must agree to stay in Ohio for at least five years. If they don’t, the state uses a lien on the house to recoup money.

“This is a good start for the first year of a new program, which we expect will grow as more graduates learn about the opportunity to be a homeowner,” Cindy Flaherty, the agency’s director of homeownership, said in an e-mail.

The agency will try to reach out to more potential homebuyers through campus events and real-estate agents and lenders, she said.

The program’s inaugural period came amid economic and jobs concerns that made some recent graduates cautious about taking the leap to home ownership, acknowledged Arlyne Alston, an Ohio Housing Finance Agency spokeswoman. However, officials are not displeased with the initial response to the program and had not set any goal for the number of people to be helped during the first year, Alston said.