FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 31, 2000 CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119 DRAKE, LOCAL BUSINESSES SPONSOR NEW SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM TO HELP MEET AREA WORK-FORCE NEEDS Drake University President David Maxwell today announced that Drake is joining local businesses in an innovative partnership that will help central Iowa companies recruit and retain more highly educated employees. The partnership will address critical work-force needs by providing incentives for new professionals to launch their careers in the Des Moines area. Dr. Maxwell made the announcement at an "insider briefing" this morning sponsored by the Greater Des Moines Partnership. Mike Blouin, chief executive officer of the Greater Des Moines Partnership, joined Lt. Gov. Sally Pederson in praising the new initiative for economic development. Four major businesses already have agreed to participate in the Drake University/Des Moines Corporate Partners Scholarships, and University officials hope more companies will join the program in the coming weeks, President Maxwell said. The initial participants are the Des Moines Register; Norwest Bank of Iowa; Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc.; and the Principal Financial Group. "The partnership between Drake and these four corporations is a model initiative that we would like to see replicated around the state," Lt. Gov. Pederson said. "This is exactly the kind of creative collaboration that will help Iowa enhance a professional work force that is well-educated, well-trained and committed to making Iowa the best state in which to live, work and raise a family." Each of the participating businesses will establish one or more funded Corporate Partners Scholarships at Drake. Each scholarship provides full tuition and room and board for a selected student for his or her junior and senior years at Drake. The value of the scholarship would be $22,210 for the 2000-01 academic year. In most cases, the business also will provide internship and summer employment opportunities. In return, the scholarship recipient has an obligation to accept appropriate employment from the business for a three-year period following graduation. The scholarship may revert to a loan with a repayment obligation to the business if the student does not complete the expected three-year employment commitment with that business. Drake sophomores have until May 1 to apply for these new scholarships, which will be awarded beginning the 2000 fall semester. Each corporate partner will, in consultation with Drake, identify selection criteria to be used in the screening of potential recipients. Such criteria might include major area of study, grade-point average and leadership activities. The corporate partner will select the scholarship recipient from those nominated by the University. "We are very excited about the opportunity to collaborate with the business community of the city of Des Moines to address one of the major challenges facing Iowa's economic development in the 21st century," Dr. Maxwell said. "As Iowa's only urban comprehensive university, it is our responsibility to serve as a vital resource in responding to the needs of the area. We are, of course, very pleased by the confidence that our corporate partners have in the quality of a Drake education, and in the abilities and promise of our students." With the most recent unemployment rate at 2.2 percent in Iowa and 2.1 percent in the Des Moines metro area, there's widespread concern about the state's "brain drain" -- the out-migration of bright, educated, ambitious young people. Approximately 60 percent of the graduates of Iowa's public universities leave the state following graduation. At Drake, 65 percent of the undergraduates come from out of state, but one in six of the out-of-state students remain to work in Iowa after graduation. "We hope these numbers will increase with the creation of the Drake/Des Moines Corporate Partners Scholarships," President Maxwell said. "In addition to providing incentives for new professionals to become part of the Des Moines-area work force, this new program will assist students with their educational cost. Further, it will assist us in our efforts to guarantee financial access to a Drake education." For more information about the Drake/Des Moines Corporate Partners Scholarship Program, contact President Maxwell at (515) 271-2191 or david.maxwell@drake.edu.