Rhode Island Inno had a conversation with Jillian Butler, Wavemaker Fellowship Director, on the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation's Wavemaker Fellowship.
It's a program that wants to inspire graduates to pursue their STEM- and "key sector"-focused careers in Rhode Island, all by "defraying student loan payments for up to four years." Commerce RI will begin accepting applications for the next round of the program in April.
Butler will explain the rest.
Editor's Note: Answers were edited for length and clarity.
Rhode Island Inno: What was the impetus for the Wavemaker Fellowship? Jillian Butler: The Wavemaker Fellowship program was created to provide a financial incentive to retain and attract STEM workers by defraying student loan payments for graduates who have incurred student loan debt during the completion of an Associate's, Bachelor's, or graduate degree. Although targeted for grads of our great institutions, anyone working or going to work in a qualifying field in Rhode Island is eligible to apply to the program.
When was it created? It was introduced in 2015 as one 11 economic development programs from the governor. We kicked off the first application and selection process in 2016, welcomed our first cohort that year, and welcomed a second cohort of professionals to the program in 2017.
How can interested students get involved? To qualify for the program, you must be working full time in a STEM or commercially relevant design at a company in R.I., and have student loan debt that you are paying off. The selection process is competitive, and the eligible pool of applicants is reviewed through an individual and employer blind process with the help of the Wavemaker Fellowship Committee. Interested students should be aware that the opportunity to apply to the program is available to them post-graduation as long as they meet all eligibility requirements.
How does the program work? Once selected, Wavemaker Fellows are eligible to receive tax credits equal to their minimum required loan payments for up to four years. In addition to the financial incentive, fellows are then engaged throughout their time in the program in a robust programming calendar aimed at helping them connect more deeply and get ‘invested’ in Rhode Island. Sessions on financial literacy, home buying in the state of R.I., personal and professional development, social networking and more are offered to participants.
Is there a cap on how many students participate? How many students typically apply, and how many are accepted? The program is limited based on the allocations from the General Assembly. Each year, we must evaluate how much debt is considered from eligible applicants against how much money the program has been allocated. There is no requirement to accept X number of applicants; through a thoughtful evaluation by the committee of all applications submitted, a final cohort is chosen.
We typically see over 300 applications for the program each year. In the first year, 208 professionals were chosen. We’ve deployed a total of $3.25 million for this student loan forgiveness program.
What types of students are “ideal” for the Wavemaker Fellowship? The Wavemaker Fellowship is made up of a very diverse representation of disciplines in the STEM and design fields here in R.I. Priority is given to applicants for whom the award plays a substantial role in bringing them to or keeping them in Rhode Island, applicants who work in fields deemed critical to Rhode Island’s advanced economy, applicants who demonstrate the greatest value to Rhode Island’s advanced economy and/or applicants for whom an award would represent “last dollar” funding.
Has the program been successful? How does CommerceRI measure its success? Over the past two years, we’ve welcomed 427 professionals to the program and committed to helping them gain back about $3.3 million dollars to invest in their futures. This money will be used to help pay down debt even further, provide the down payment on a permanent home in R.I., provide additional spending money, etc.
The program has been a key lever in many professionals’ decisions to pursue, or continue to pursue, their careers or their futures in R.I. Anecdotally, we already have several stories from fellows and their employers where the Wavemaker Fellowship award was a part of their decision to turn down a job out of state. For example, Camille, a Rhode Island native who recently graduated with an engineering degree from a Florida institution, was given two different stellar offers for full time employment after graduation, both of which were in Florida. However, she turned them down and opted to take a job with Raytheon based in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. And Nick, an energy efficiency engineer in the Rhode Island office of National Grid was offered a position to relocate to the national headquarters, but decided to remain in Rhode Island, receive the Wavemaker Fellowship, and make positive steps towards becoming a homeowner.
From a company’s perspective, it has been a helpful incentive for some of the newcomers to R.I., too. These companies have benefited from CommerceRI’s Qualified Jobs tax credit incentive, so it’s always nice to see our programs operating in conjunction to make an even greater impact.
How does the Wavemaker Fellowship spur innovation across the state? The Wavemaker Fellowship program is an incentive that is also available to entrepreneurs who have set up shop in R.I. We have several start-up companies who are benefitting from the Wavemaker Fellowship. As many in the startup ecosystem know, money is the most challenging part of an early stage company, both for the growth of the businesses and the stability of the individuals responsible for the business. This is a great way for entrepreneurs to get a bit of relief from their financial burden while continuing to innovate with their startup companies.
Much of the programming and communications that go into the program are also centered around bringing these diverse minds together, through Wavemaker specific events, but also by connecting these fellows to resources and networks that they didn’t know were at their disposal. We are connecting Fellows with students as mentors, with organizations like Rhode Island Inno, Social Enterprise Greenhouse, MedMates, etc. We aim to continually reinforce fortuitous collisions and collaboration between innovative thinkers through the program.
