Here’s another story that provide a useful example to Appalachia about how to retain, or gain, population, from The Rural Blog:
“In an effort to encourage graduates to consider jobs in rural areas that are in desperate need of lawyers, the University of North Dakota School of Law has created a one-year pilot program to give students an idea of what it's like to live and work in a rural area, Ashley Marquis reports for Dakota Student, the college's student-run newspaper. If continued, ‘The program would offer three internships for law students to go to smaller communities in the state that have less than 15,000 people. The interns would work closely with a judge throughout the summer and into the school year.’” (Dakota Student photo by Chester Beltowski)
Similar programs exist in Nebraska, Georgia, South Dakota and Kansas. There’s even a program through the University of Pikeville’s College of Osteopathic Medicine that forgives a portion of student loan debt for graduates who stay in the region to work for a certain number of years.
Could more incentives such as these draw young professionals into Appalachia to stay?
