click to enlarge - ANNE WALLACE ALLEN ©️ Seven Days
- Northern Vermont University-Lyndon
Students who obtain a bachelor’s degree this spring from a Vermont college could receive $5,000 to help pay off their student loans if they stay in the state for at least two years.
The payments flow from a new collaboration between the state, the University of Vermont and the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation that is aimed at shoring up the state’s anemic workforce. There are now 25,000 jobs open in Vermont and only 10,000 people who are unemployed.
New graduates have to live and work full time in Vermont to be eligible for t
he Green Mountain Job & Retention Program; those who work remotely for out-of-state companies are not. Recipients can get $2,500 to pay off loans after their first year of employment and another $2,500 after the second year.
The program shows that the state values young people and their Vermont educations, UVM President Suresh Garimella said in a prepared statement on Monday.
The eligible colleges include the Vermont State College system; the University of Vermont; and private colleges and universities such as Champlain, Middlebury, Bennington, Sterling and Norwich.
Vermont’s population only grew by 2.8 percent over the past decade, compared to 4.1 percent for the Northeast overall and 7.4 percent in the U.S., according to Amanda Van Vranken, the assistant director for external partnerships at UVM’s Career Center.
In an
essay for the Vermont Futures Project, Van Vranken noted that Vermonters are getting older, with the number of people over age 65 growing faster than any other demographic. She added that about 70 percent of the 10,000 people who graduate with Vermont degrees and certificates each year are from out of state, and 57 percent leave after graduation.
Gov. Phil Scott's administration and lawmakers started using financial incentives several years ago to draw more people to Vermont to live. Later, because employers were having difficulty finding workers, those incentives were revised in order to attract those who planned to work in-state.
The state, nonprofits and private businesses have also been investing heavily in workforce training. In 2021, VSAC started offering free tuition at the Community College of Vermont for income-eligible students, a move that contributed to a 10 percent enrollment bump between 2020 and 2022, CCV said.
The latest program, announced on Monday, aims at one sector of the workforce — those with bachelor’s degrees, the minimum credential needed for about 30 percent of the jobs in Vermont, Van Vranken wrote.
Michele Karode, who works in UVM’s office of engagement, said about 400 new graduates could receive the reimbursements, which were approved by lawmakers last year as part of a larger workforce development measure.
The total cost of the program would be $2.5 million. Applications opened on March 1, but only about 50 people have applied so far, Karode said on Monday. She said applications will be evaluated on a first-come, first-served basis, but officials will also attempt to allocate the awards to students throughout the state.
“Getting that bachelor’s-required job will hopefully jump-start your career and keep you here,” she said.