The Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission is a group that seeks to accelerate regional transformation in the tobacco regions of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As a part of that vision, they are now offering the Talent Attraction Program to assist graduating students with finding areas of employment and offering loan repayments.

The purpose of the program is to encourage recent graduates to stay in the state of Virginia and work in hard to fill occupations. The commission states that they will provide up to $12,000 annually in student loan payments with a two year commitment to a job listed below. They also allow renewal of the loan repayments for the following two years if you are eligible. 

To be eligible to receive loan repayment the recipients must graduate between December 1, 2020 and December 31, 2022 with a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited school like Averett. Applicants must also be in one of the following occupations: Public School Teacher in varying subjects, Speech Language Pathologist, Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Industrial or Electrical Engineer, or Information Security, Network, or Computer Systems Analyst. 

To be approved you will also become civically engaged in your community by volunteering with local non-profit or government organizations for at least 50 hours a year. 

There are some other options for students looking for loan repayment options that do not fit these qualifications. A Public Service Loan Forgiveness program is one option that will forgive the remaining balance after you have made 120 qualifying monthly payments, as long as you work full-time for a not for profit or government organization.

Most states offer some type of a loan forgiveness plan to help assist new professionals in repaying those charges. Make sure to thoroughly investigate loan repayment and forgiveness options before applying and signing contacts.

For more information about the Virginia Tobacco Revitalization Commission visit https://www.revitalizeva.org/grant-loan-program/student-loan-repayment/. For more information about the Virginia State Loan Repayment Program visit https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/health-equity/virginia-loan-repayment-programs-2/.