State makes first Wavemaker Fellowship grants

THE INITIAL CLASS OF WAVEMAKER FELLOWS have been identified. Each recipient of the R.I. Commerce Corp.-funded program designed to keep STEM-field college graduates in Rhode Island will receive a tax credit to offset the repayment schedule of college loans. On average, each fellow will receive $3,750 per year. / CIURTESY OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
THE INITIAL CLASS OF WAVEMAKER FELLOWS have been identified. Each recipient of the R.I. Commerce Corp.-funded program designed to keep STEM-field college graduates in Rhode Island will receive a tax credit to offset the repayment schedule of college loans. On average, each fellow will receive $3,750 per year. / CIURTESY OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

PROVIDENCE – Two hundred and fifteen college graduates working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields were chosen as the recipients of R.I. Commerce Corp.’s first Wavemaker Fellowships, a tax credit to defray student loan repayment, and notified of their acceptance on Tuesday, according to an announcement by Commerce RI.

On average, inaugural recipients will receive $300 a month, or $3,750 per year, in tax credits to cover student loan debt. Gov. Gina M. Raimondo said the goal of the fellowship is to stop the state’s brain drain by encouraging recent college graduates to stay in Rhode Island.

“The Wavemaker Fellowship is helping to make our state the place where young people want to start and grow their careers,” she said.

Raimondo added, the tax credit “could be the difference between living at home or getting an apartment with a roommate.”

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After $1.75 million in funding for the fellowship was passed by the General Assembly in 2015 as part of Raimondo’s jobs plan, more than 300 Rhode Islanders applied in the one-month application period. Sixty percent of applicants were graduates of Rhode Island schools and 90 percent of those selected are Rhode Island residents working in state.

In addition, half of the recipients hold bachelor’s degrees, 44 percent have a Master of Science, Master of Arts or Ph.D and 1 percent have an associate’s degree. Twenty-eight percent of recipients are employed in the IT and software industry, 21 percent in biomedical innovation, 16 percent in advanced business services, 12 percent in design/custom manufacturing and 6 percent in the defense shipbuilding/manufacturing industry.

The cities with the highest recipient population are Providence, Warwick, Cranston, Coventry and Newport.

Due to the popularity of the program, Raimondo has budgeted double the initial year’s amount for the second installment of the fellowship next year.

The fellowship was open to any person with higher education (graduate, bachelors and associates degrees) loan debt currently employed in a STEM-related field in Rhode Island and will help recipients cover loan repayment for a minimum of two years and up to four years.

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