How do we strengthen the workforce and attract talent when student debt is so high and we have lost teachers and experts during the “Great Resignation”? 

As mentioned in Part Three, Trulia, a subsidiary of the Zillow group, has put together the issues of lingering student debt as an impediment to living and working in high cost communities.  They list towns, many quite small, that offer significant benefits for paying off student loans and for free and reduced tuition for potential students. 

  • For example, the town of Tribune, Kansas offers $15,000 over five years to help residents pay off their student loans. 
  • The State of Maine has started a tax credit program to reimburse college graduates for student loan payments
  • Hamilton, Ohio, too, has a program to cover student loan payments, up to $10,000 – called the “Talent Attraction Program (TAP) Scholarship”.

Some colleges are offering free tuition programs for local residents.  US News lists 18 tuition-free colleges in the link.  In addition, free/low-cost tuition for community college is beginning to spread nationally at the state and local level.  Stateline reported in May, 2023 that 30 states have a tuition grant program.  Some of these are included in state 2024 budgets.  Massachusetts has included $20 million to expand its free community college program in the 2024 budget. 

  • New York State offers the Excelsior program which will help pay up to $5500 for families making $125,000 or less. 
  • Wheelock, Vermont offers free tuition to Dartmouth College, which is in the area.  As the story goes, Dartmouth was having financial difficulties in the 1770’s and appealed to the state for help.  The state gave the school 23,000 acres along with the rent collected on that land.  Dartmouth’s president in 1830 made a promise that any resident of Wheelock who was accepted into the institution would get a complimentary education. 
  • Kalamazoo, Michigan will cover free college tuition to any graduate from public high school in Kalamazoo to any Michigan state college or university. The program has been funded by anonymous civic minded donors.
  • Companies, too, offer tuition benefits for higher education.  Investopedia cites 12 companies that help pay tuition.  They tend to be large companies like Amazon, Boeing, Chipotle, Disney, and Target. Forbes Advisor presents another list, with some overlap but some different companies as well.

Further, a number of towns and cities are helping those that move to their communities various forms of cash grants and other benefits.  Insider cites 25 towns and cities that are doing that.  For example, Bemidji, Minnesota offers $2500 relocation costs, free internet service, a one-year membership to a coworking space and free access to other services.  The program is for remote workers moving from at least 60 miles away.  The Northwest Arkansas Council has a pilot program that offers remote workers $10,000 cash to relocate.  This area includes the University of Arkansas and Bentonville, where Walmart and Sam’s Club headquarters are located.

Vermont is offering $7500 to movers that seek local employment in a role that is in the most demand.  Hawaii, which is hoping to jumpstart post-pandemic tourism, offered free airfare for 50 spots. The organization Local Housing Solutions describes programs for “employer-assisted housing”. 

The Bond Buyer has awarded a few borrowers that used bond proceeds to create affordable housing.  For example, in 2022, Apache County, Arizona Window Rock Unified School District No. 8 was awarded a “Deal of the Year” prize for financing affordable housing for teachers.  In 2018, an award was offered to California’s Jefferson Union High School District for their $5 million borrowing to build affordable housing for teachers and staff.  The bonds were “believed to be the first voter-approved teacher-staff housing general obligation bonds in the nation.” (Bond Buyer, November 9th, 2018)