Aging populations and too few skilled workers has 42 states offering 'stay and we'll help you pay' student loan options

Mandy Dwinell opted to stay in Vermont.
(Photo by Oliver Parini, Hechinger)

States with aging populations are enticing skilled workers to stay in their state by paying down their student loans. "At least 42 states have enacted student loan repayment or forgiveness programs since 2018, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures," reports Jon Marcus for The Hechinger Report, which covers education. "Almost all of them are for professionals in specific areas of shortages — mostly teaching and healthcare — or who agree to work in underserved areas.

Jamie Kohn, senior research director for the human resources practice of the Gartner consulting firm, told Marcus: "Generally, there is a massive shortage of talent, particularly in certain skilled talent areas. Student loan repayment may be a way for states to mitigate some of the loss of wage growth that people are feeling, so they not only stay, but can afford to start families and buy houses."

Using student loan repayment options gives states latitude in targeting the types of skilled workers they need. For instance, in Utah, "Doctors, dentists and pharmacists who work for at least three years in underserved areas can get up to $75,000 of their student loans paid off," Marcus reports. "South Carolina will pay off up to $5,000 per year of student loans for teachers. Illinois will help repay the student loan debt of school social workers."

Maine and Vermont are states with some of the nation's oldest populations. Vermont has had a series of private colleges close that were once reliable conduits bringing in "young people there who put down roots and stayed," Marcus explains. "That leaves a smaller population of graduates, a decline that's beginning to happen nationwide and that can result in labor shortages, slower economic growth and declines in state tax revenues. Unemployment in Vermont is just 1.8 percent, third lowest in the country after New Hampshire and Maryland. Maine has projected a need for 75,000 more workers in the 10 years ending 2029."

"Two years didn't seem too much to ask from recent grad Mandy Dwinell, either — especially in exchange for help repaying the $20,000 student loan debt she racked up in a college career interrupted by family obligations. She now works for the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers. She told Marcus: "When I was in high school, I'm, like, as soon as I graduate, I'm out of here, I'm not looking back. . . . [But now] I absolutely love it here!"