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A program called Opportunity Maine is bringing financial relief to college students.
As of Feb. 1, any student attending a Maine college can sign-up for the program by visiting their financial aid office and completing a contract. By signing up, anyone who lives and works in Maine after graduation will receive a tax credit to help pay his or her student loans.
“Legislation like the Opportunity Maine Program is crucial to the sustained economic future of the state of Maine,” said Opportunity Maine intern, Gabrielle Berube. “Enforcing a program like this fixes possible problems that might be faced in the future, instead of just putting a Band-Aid over them.”
Once students have signed the contract, their loan information will be tracked. By signing the contact, one is not restricted to work in Maine after graduation, but those who don’t stay in Maine will not be eligible for the tax credit.
The higher a student has in debt, the higher the tax credit. The average tax credit will be $2,100 each year, but the students with the highest debts will be able to claim up to $5,500 each year.
Since the program works with businesses there is a provision in the legislation that says employers can pay off their employees’ student loans and then the business can receive the tax credit
Once students have signed up, their financial aid office will let them know about any procedures that the school has adopted. Once a student has received his or her degree, they have to make sure the Opportunity contract specifies the source, principal amount, interest rate and terms of loans that are a part of his or her financial aid package. Students also have to file an electronic copy of the contract with the Maine Secretary of State’s Office.
Opportunity Maine was started by a group of Maine students and community leaders in 2006. The grassroots effort was in response to the crippling debt burden faced by students in Maine and throughout the country and the flight of Mainers to other states for school and employment. The idea of the program was to expand educational opportunity and upgrade the skills of Maine’s workforce. This program transformed from a proposed citizen’s initiative into law in July 2007.
Before it changed into law, the organization collected approximately 72,000 signatures from Mainers and brought those to the legislation.
“The legislation had the option of reviewing the Opportunity Maine legislation and sending it back to the people for a vote or passing it outright, which they did,” Berube said. “The legislation had unanimous approval in the House and an overwhelming support in the Senate.”
“From the very beginning of Opportunity Maine, it has been important to engage the people who stand to benefit from this program in all our efforts, especially our outreach efforts,” said Opportunity Maine Executive Director, Rob Brown. “We believe that this special outreach campaign to finally get students enrolled in the program is just one more way that we have achieved that important goal.”
The program has already visited several colleges across the state of Maine, informing students about the benefits of signing up. Members of the organization have also visited high schools in the Bangor area. Berube said they hope to visit several more high schools across Maine.
In addition to students being able to sign up, the first of February marked the launch of a statewide public relations television campaign featuring Olympic Gold Medalist Snowboard Cross, Seth Wescott. The television campaign will run on a variety of networks hosted by Time Warner.
With the program being new and financial aid offices just becoming familiar with it, Brown urges students to download the contract off the Opportunity Maine Web site and fill it out before taking it into their financial aid office.
Students interested in more information can go to opportunitymaine.org
