§ 3543. Student loan repayment assistance
(a)(1) There is established a need-based student loan repayment assistance program for the
purpose of providing student loan repayment assistance to any individual employed
by a regulated, privately operated center-based child care program or family child
care home.
(2) An eligible individual shall:
(A)(i) work in a privately operated center-based child care program or in a family child
care home that is regulated by the Division for at least an average of 30 hours per
week for 48 weeks of the year; or
(ii) if the individual is an employee of a Vermont Head Start program that operates fewer
than 48 weeks per year, work a minimum of nine months of the year, inclusive of any
employer-approved time off; or
(B) receive an annual salary of not more than $60,000.00 through the individual’s work
in regulated child care; and
(C)(i) have earned an associate’s, bachelor’s, or master’s degree with a major or concentration
in early childhood, child and human development, elementary education, special education
with a birth to age eight focus, or child and family services; or
(ii) have earned an associate’s, bachelor’s, or master’s degree that contributes to an
Early Childhood Career Ladder Certificate Level IIIB or higher through Northern Lights
at the Community College of Vermont.
(3) To participate in the program set forth in this section, an eligible individual shall
submit to the Department for Children and Families documentation expressing the individual’s
intent to work in a regulated, privately operated center-based child care program
or family child care home for at least the 12 months following the annual loan repayment
award notification. A participant may receive up to $4,000.00 annually in student
loan repayment assistance, which shall be distributed by the Department in four allotments.
The Department shall distribute at least one-quarter of the individual’s total annual
benefit after the individual has completed three months of employment in accordance
with the program. The remainder of an individual’s total annual benefit shall be distributed
by the Department every three months after the initial payment.
(b)(1) The Department shall adopt policies, procedures, and guidelines necessary to implement
the provisions of this section.
(2) Student loan repayments shall be available pursuant to this section on a first-come,
first-served basis until appropriated funds are depleted.
(3) The Department may contract for the administration of the program. Administration
costs shall not be more than 10 percent of the total appropriation received to implement
this section.
(c) An individual shall not simultaneously participate in the student loan repayment assistance
program set forth in this section and either of the scholarship programs set forth
in section 3541 or 3542 of this title. (Added 2021, No. 45, § 6; amended 2021, No. 183 (Adj. Sess.), § 37, eff. July 1, 2022; 2023, No. 3, § 88, eff. March 20, 2023; 2023, No. 6, § 393, eff. July 1, 2023; 2023, No. 76, § 17(c), eff. July 1, 2023.)