$5,000 to Stay in Vermont? Unpacking If the Grad Stipend Lives Up to Its '2-for-1' Claims
The Green Mountain Job Retention Program's long-term future and true impact remain unproven. To fully evaluate its success, several key questions still need to be answered.
On October 27, 2025, the University of Vermont (UVM) Career Center published an article highlighting the third year of the Green Mountain Job Retention Program (GMJRP), an initiative that provides student loan reimbursements to recent graduates who stay and work in the state. The article portrayed the program in a positive light, noting it recently awarded $845,000 to 169 students and has over 400 participants in total.
But what is this program, why does it exist, and what does a deeper, impartial look at the numbers reveal about its potential impact? This report explains the program’s mechanics, the workforce crisis it was designed to address, and the key data points Vermont residents need to form an informed perspective.
The Context: Vermont’s Demographic Squeeze
The Green Mountain Job Retention Program was not created in a vacuum. It is a direct response to Vermont’s well-documented demographic and workforce crisis. To understand the program, one must first understand the problem.
An Aging State: According to U.S. Census Bureau data, Vermont is one of the oldest states in the nation, with a median age of 43.7 years, compared to the U.S. median of 39.2. Over 22% of Vermont’s population is 65 or older, significantly higher than the national average of 17.7%.
A Growing Gap: This aging trend is accelerating. According to data released by the Vermont Joint Fiscal Office (JFO), between 2020 and 2023, the number of Vermonters aged 65 and older grew by over 10.3% (an increase of over 13,000 people). JFO analysis also shows that during that same period, the state’s core working-age population (ages 25-64) shrank by 1.1% (a net loss of nearly 3,700 workers).
The “Worker Deficit”: This creates a structural problem where more people are retiring than are entering the workforce. The Vermont Futures Project estimates that 14,800 workers will retire annually this decade, while only 6,600 high school and college graduates stay in Vermont and join the workforce each year.
This leaves a significant, multi-thousand-person gap that the state’s economy must fill annually. The GMJRP is one of several small-scale initiatives designed to try and chip away at this massive challenge.
How the Program Works
The Green Mountain Job Retention Program offers a $5,000 stipend for student loan repayment to eligible graduates from Vermont colleges and universities, according to program details from UVM.
It is not a lump-sum payment. The award is disbursed in two installments, as outlined in program guidelines:
$2,500 after completing one full year of qualifying employment in Vermont.
$2,500 after completing the second full year.
To qualify, recipients must live in Vermont and work full-time for a Vermont-based employer. The program is a partnership: the State of Vermont provides the funding, UVM’s Office of Engagement handles marketing, and the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC) manages the applications and distributes the funds.
A Deeper Look at the Numbers
While the UVM article highlights 169 recent stipend recipients, an impartial analysis requires placing that number in context with the state’s larger economic realities.
Scale vs. Need: The 169 students in the 2023 cohort represent a small fraction of the state’s annual workforce gap, which the Vermont Futures Project estimates to be over 8,000 workers (14,800 retirements minus 6,600 new workers). The 400 total participants in the program’s pipeline are also small relative to the scale of the problem.
The Salary Gap: A primary “push factor” for graduates leaving the state is higher pay elsewhere. UVM’s own Class of 2023 Career Outcomes Report shows a significant gap: graduates who stayed in Vermont reported an average starting salary of $50,153. Graduates who left the state reported an average starting salary of $58,172.
The Incentive vs. The Gap: This creates an $8,020 annual salary gap for the average graduate. The GMJRP’s $2,500 annual stipend is not large enough to close this financial gap, meaning a graduate could still be over $5,500 better off financially each year by leaving the state, even after forgoing the incentive.
The “2-for-1” Claim: The UVM article states: “For every one Vermonter who graduates from UVM and stays in Vermont, two of their graduating classmates from out-of-state stay in Vermont...” This “2-for-1” ratio is a powerful marketing statistic, but it is not substantiated in UVM’s publicly available career outcomes reports for 2022 or 2023, which do not provide a breakdown of post-graduation location by a student’s original home state.
A Pilot Program in Flux
The GMJRP is still an experiment, and its design has already changed to adapt to on-the-ground realities.
Evolving Eligibility: The program’s initial 2023 pilot was restrictive, open only to bachelor’s degree recipients whose jobs explicitly required a degree, according to program rules. According to reporting from Seven Days, uptake was slow, with only 50 of 400 slots applied for weeks after it opened. In response, administrators broadened eligibility for future cohorts to include master’s degree recipients and, critically, any full-time job, whether it required a degree or not, as detailed by VSAC.
Uncertain Funding: The program’s “third year” status suggests a permanence that is not guaranteed. The GMJRP was funded with one-time legislative appropriations ($2.5 million for the pilot, as reported by Seven Days, with a request to the Joint Fiscal Office for $1.5 million to continue). It is not a permanent, line-item program. As a program manager admitted in the UVM article, “the program’s future hasn’t been determined.”
How Vermont’s Approach Compares
Vermont’s strategy differs significantly from graduate retention programs in other states.
Targeted vs. Broad: Most state programs are highly targeted at specific, high-need professions. For example, Delaware offers up to $200,000 for healthcare providers, according to a review by Earnest.com, and reporting from College Recon shows Michigan offers up to $300,000 for medical professionals in shortage areas. These programs use large incentives to fill specific, critical gaps.
Vermont’s Model: The GMJRP is broad-based and untargeted. It is open to any graduate in any field. This “a little bit for everyone” approach may be a political necessity because Vermont’s workforce shortage is systemic, affecting nearly all industries, not just one or two, as noted by the Vermont Futures Project. The trade-off is that its small, diluted incentive may not be large enough to influence the decisions of high-demand graduates (like engineers or nurses) who can command much higher salaries elsewhere.
Here is a table that illustrates the strategic differences:
What Happens Next?
The Green Mountain Job Retention Program is a modest, tactical incentive designed to signal to graduates that they are valued. However, its long-term future and true impact remain unproven. For policymakers and the public to fully evaluate its success, several key questions still need to be answered:
The “But-For” Question: How many of the 400+ participants would have stayed in Vermont anyway, even without the $5,000? Without answering this, it’s impossible to know if the program is changing behavior or just rewarding graduates for a decision they already made.
Long-Term Retention: The program requires a two-year commitment. What happens in year three? A key measure of success will be whether these recipients are still living and working in Vermont five or ten years from now.
Future Funding: The program’s existence depends on new, one-time appropriations from the legislature. Its long-term sustainability is a year-to-year question that will be decided during future state budget negotiations.