According to a new study by a Ball State professor, Indiana’s per capita income is continuing to fall, which may cause less students to stay after graduation.
In 30 years, Indiana has dropped from 30th to 40th place for per capita income in the United States.
Michael Hicks, Ball State director of the center for business and economic research, conducted a study on personal income and the declining rates in Indiana that were published on Aug. 14. Per capita income from as far back as the 1920s and as recent as 2010 was used in the study.
“The goal of the study was really to examine what has happened with personal income in Indiana on a per capita basis,” Hicks said.
According to the study, “over the last two decades, per capita personal income has become an increasingly common measure of the effectiveness of economic development policy.”
It said wages correlate closely to an individual’s productivity and are used to measure economic development efforts. Higher personal income has a part in greater employment, investment and production within a region, according to the study.
Hicks said his research doesn’t affect Ball State students much, since many leave Indiana after graduation.
“The graduate at Ball State is thinking about where to move and they have, if you’re a good student, an abundance of options,” he said. “This study sort of implicated the number of reasons for not being very good at attracting households where there are disposable income and children.
“I think most students are going to naturally gravitate to places they want to live and hopefully by the time the current freshman class graduates, more places in Indiana will recognize how important it is to provide a high quality place and good schools to potential residents.”
Freshman hospitality and food management major Kira Ross said she wouldn’t stay in Muncie after graduation, especially because personal income levels were declining.
“I don’t think there are a lot of job opportunities here,” Ross said. “If I stayed it would depend on how easy it was for me to get a good job [after graduation].”
Senior art major Stephanie Albrecht said she wouldn’t stay in Muncie even if she were able to get a good job.
“There’s nothing here, it doesn’t matter what age you are,” she said. “There aren’t a lot of jobs in markets that are growing. Even as a college student there’s nothing to do.
“I know about the middle schools and high schools in Muncie; they’re not very good. If I did stay and have a family, I wouldn’t want to raise them here.”
Since Indiana’s rate of personal income has been declining over the past 30 years, policy makers are worried because a lower per capita income can lead to lower standards of living.
“What [the study] hopefully does is cause policy makers in the state to focus more attention and resources on things that matter more to people who would be interested to live here,” Hicks said. “I’m not trying to keep Ball State students in Indiana, I’m trying to make more places in Indiana places that would attract college graduates.”
