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* Press release…
Illinois’ first-ever student loan assistance program targeted to engineering students working at the Illinois Department of Transportation has become law with Governor JB Pritzker’s support and approval. The measure, sponsored by State Senator Ram Villivalam and supported by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Illinois (ACEC Illinois) creates a pilot program enabling the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to provide student loan repayment assistance to qualifying employees that meet certain requirements, helping to attract and encourage educated professionals to work on the state’s highest priority infrastructure projects.
Introduced by Sen. Ram Villivalam, the program was proposed by ACEC Illinois, passed into law and funded by the General Assembly with the provision of $750,000 in the budget to support it pending the Governor’s approval. The proposal provides for higher education student loan repayment assistance in the form of annual after-tax bonuses of $15,000 per year for not more than 4 years, for up to 50 engineers employed by IDOT. This will help address the shortage of skilled talent in the industry and help IDOT attract engineers and other qualified professionals to work on the state’s infrastructure projects.
“The inclusion of funding in the budget gives Illinois a competitive advantage when it comes to recruiting and retaining engineering talent and ensures that IDOT attracts educated professionals to work on our state’s road and transportation infrastructure,” said Kevin Artl, President and CEO of the American Council of Engineering Companies of Illinois. There is currently a shortage of about 82,000 professionals in the industry and the provision of student loan assistance will help draw talent both in-state and out-of-state to deliver key projects on time and within budget. We look forward to working with our policymakers on further incentives that will help transform Illinois into the top destination for engineers.”
“The promise of ReBuild Illinois can only be realized when we have the best professionals working on our infrastructure projects,” said Sen. Ram Villivalam. “The provision of incentives to attract the engineers to our state is a key element in ensuring the success of that promise and I will continue to work with my colleagues and other stakeholders on more initiatives to attract the best engineers so that the state’s infrastructure projects are delivered to the highest professional standards.”
* The Question: Should this $15,000 per year student loan assistance program be expanded and, if so, to whom? Make sure to explain your answer. Thanks.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jun 8, 23 @ 12:26 pm
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Yes. Every unit of state and local government that requires engineering services is at a recruiting disadvantage. We can’t compete on pay and we can no longer offer a pension as a sweetener. We need all the help we can get.
Comment by Sangamo Girl Thursday, Jun 8, 23 @ 12:41 pm
Yes.
I would put educators and nurses at the top of the list. Jobs with a high community impact, high community need and lower pay (such as public schools, public health) would be good places for such a program to be applied. Setting some criteria first and then selecting the jobs where the benefit is made available would be better than relying on the whims of lawmakers and the strength of lobbying.
Comment by Pot calling kettle Thursday, Jun 8, 23 @ 12:41 pm
Yes - social workers.
Comment by Suburban Mom Thursday, Jun 8, 23 @ 12:52 pm
I’d be interested to see if the pilot program worked it worked prior to saying it should or should not be expanded.
I think there’s a fallacy to assume pay discrepancies between between public & private jobs is the reason that government agencies have trouble hiring. I am not convinced that there’s a direct cause & effect line between the two.
It might be a factor but there’s also a lot of other factors that play a role.
Comment by twowaystreet Thursday, Jun 8, 23 @ 1:21 pm
Yes- all agencies while this might not be enough to entice engineers to IDOT it will certainly help many agencies
Comment by Annon3 Thursday, Jun 8, 23 @ 1:22 pm
No.
This program advantages students with high debt, rather than boosting recruiting across-the-board with better pay.
Comment by Jane Thursday, Jun 8, 23 @ 1:26 pm
Yes, expanded.
To any public agency position, state and local, which has a degree as part of its requirements.
Institutional turnover is an oft overlooked issue, but it has significant impacts.
Retention is also something to be encouraged for that reason, along with the benefits to recruitment such a program would provide.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Thursday, Jun 8, 23 @ 1:43 pm
I second what “Suburban Mom” suggested: Social Workers. State complains about being understaffed in those areas, this would solve it.
Comment by Consultant101 Thursday, Jun 8, 23 @ 1:46 pm
Doctors and nurses who agree to work in underserved areas
Comment by Retiree Thursday, Jun 8, 23 @ 1:50 pm
I support. I wish this were around 35 years ago when I graduated as an engineer. I wonder, though, if the pilot could be limited to Illinois residents that studied in Illinois. Might not be a big enough pool of talent, but I like keeping it close to home.
Comment by Slugger O'Toole Thursday, Jun 8, 23 @ 1:56 pm
IDOT has so many problems it would be hard to say exactly which are to blame in staffing issues. I might suggest it would be easy enough to survey the young engineers and ask why they took jobs where they did and perhaps use that data to devise targeted solutions. I do like the idea of Illinois money being spent on Illinois students working in Illinois. I also think better pay can’t hurt.
Comment by What's in a name? Thursday, Jun 8, 23 @ 2:01 pm
This idea is insufficient and misses the mark. It’s insufficient because IDOT employs tons of Project Manager-types who aren’t engineers, but whose positions require a college degree. IDOT’s growing list of vacancies in in both engineering and non-engineer roles, so why only address half of the problem?
This idea also misses the mark entirely because if IDOT compensation were sufficient in the first place, recruitment wouldn’t be an issue. Tier 2 pensions are absolutely not a selling point, and agency-wide salaries are determined by what’s competitive in Springfield, and those numbers are pretty insufficient for the large contingent of IDOT employees with work locations in District 1 (which is where turnover seems to be the highest). At the very least, salaries should be right-sized respective to each of the individual IDOT districts.
Comment by Scooter Thursday, Jun 8, 23 @ 2:13 pm
Yes, but also remember that anybody working for the state, including IDOT employees, as well as teachers and university people and anybody at a 501c3, is eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness after 10 years of income-based payments.
Comment by Leap Day William Thursday, Jun 8, 23 @ 2:14 pm
Disparities between Chicago-area and Downstate salaries have been a problem at IDOT for decades. Will be curious how the bonuses are parceled out.
Comment by Ares Thursday, Jun 8, 23 @ 2:29 pm
Sure, but if they want to support something we desperately need with scholarships…how about mental health professionals for kids. Some counties do not have therapists that are accepting new clients.
Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Jun 8, 23 @ 2:50 pm
What Retiree said.
From the description, it’s not clear if IDOT engineers could leave after 4 years. I don’t favor paying student debt then seeing them leave State government, or leave the state entirely.
BTW, the engineers in my former agency did well compared to other professional employees because the agency paid for overtime. Since the engineers traveled all over the state for meetings, inspections, etc, it added up. I suspect private sector engineers aren’t paid for overtime as much.
Comment by Sir Reel Thursday, Jun 8, 23 @ 3:22 pm
The time from job opening/posting to interview to offer by IDOT/CMS et. al is scandalous, often taking more than a year, and yet a young engineer could start a fine career but never really gets the chance because engineering firms are out in front recruiting and retaining. The state has no one but itself to blame.
Comment by Gordon Willis Thursday, Jun 8, 23 @ 4:03 pm