Grants for Grads targets Louisiana 'brain drain'

While industry leaders are busy trying to recruit qualified workers, many college graduates are looking everywhere but Louisiana for job opportunities, creating a "brain drain" industry leaders say has hindered the state for decades.

In an attempt to funnel some of those potential employees back into Louisiana, state Rep. Neil Abramson, D-New Orleans, has created a housing incentive program to help recent college graduates who commit to staying in Louisiana.

Abramson sponsored House Bill 1156 in the 2008 regular legislative session, which created the Grants for Grads program to convert the state's income tax into a housing incentive for college graduates.

"The best and the brightest of our kids are graduating from college and going off to other states after the state has spent resources educating and training our kids," Abramson said. "We are losing a great future for our state."

The Grants for Grads program is geared toward Louisiana residents who have earned an undergraduate or graduate degree...