IDOT targets young engineering talent with student loan assistance
[May 16, 2026]
By Aidan Klineman and Medill Illinois News Bureau
SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Department of Transportation announced this
week it will soon repay up to $60,000 in student loans for eligible
employees over four years as part of an initiative to lure recently
graduated engineers in an increasingly competitive job market.
The Higher Education Student Loan Repayment Assistance for Engineers
Pilot Program will reimburse 50 Illinois-educated engineers up to
$15,000 annually after four years of service at the agency. IDOT hopes
to incentivize young talent to remain in the state and the field, citing
data from the American Council of Engineering Companies that shows a
national shortfall of approximately 20,000 engineers per year due to
retirements or departures from the field.
“At a time when workforce challenges continue to impact the engineering
industry and public sector alike, this initiative will help attract and
retain the next generation of transportation professionals needed to
deliver critical infrastructure projects across Illinois,” Kevin Artl,
president and CEO of ACEC Illinois, said in a statement announcing the
initiative.
The student loan repayment program is the latest effort by Gov. JB
Pritzker and the state to spur economic growth by retaining young
talent. In February, the Illinois Retail Merchants Association launched
an apprenticeship program for emerging Illinois retailers, and late last
month, Pritzker announced public and private partnerships with computing
giant IBM that will bring 500 apprenticeships to the company’s new
innovation hub located in Chicago’s quantum park.
The program is funded by IDOT, with funds allocated as part of the
Pritzker administration’s ongoing Rebuild Illinois efforts and paid out
as bonuses. Rebuild Illinois has made significant investments in
Illinois infrastructure projects since fiscal year 2020.
Massive infrastructure investments augment engineering needs
State-employed engineers are needed to support the Rebuild Illinois
infrastructure program, passed in the first year of the Pritzker
administration in 2019 and continued since then. The latest six-year
plan calls for investing $50.6 billion in infrastructure, including
$32.5 billion for transportation projects exclusively: the construction
and maintenance of roads, bridges, public transit, freight and passenger
rail, aeronautic facilities and ports.
This is not the first time IDOT has targeted young engineering talent.
Last year, the agency implemented an “Intern to Hire” program meant to
attract college students to civil engineering internships with the
department by providing direct pathways to full-time employment.
The need to fill engineering positions at IDOT is also driven, in part,
by federal legislation encouraging new projects. In 2021, President Joe
Biden signed the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,
which allocated over $17 billion to Illinois public works projects over
five years.
“We have more projects than ever at IDOT right now, thanks to the
capital program and funding at the federal level,” Guy Tridgell,
director of communications for IDOT, said. “And we need engineers to do
that work.”
According to IDOT data, the state has invested over $24 billion in
Illinois highway projects through Rebuild Illinois since the 2020 fiscal
year. The state hopes young engineers will take advantage of these new
jobs incentives and meet the demand for continued infrastructure
investment.
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A truck drives on Illinois roads. (Medill Illinois News Bureau photo
by Jacques Abou-Rizk)
Public sector recruitment for the long term
In addition to helping accomplish what Rebuild Illinois set out to do,
Tridgell hopes the student loan repayment incentives will inspire young
engineers to pursue long-term careers in public service.
“We’re aggressively taking a look at a variety of strategies to get
young engineers, in particular, to come and work for the state,”
Tridgell said. “It’s a good career — you learn a lot about the
profession and you can make a real difference in your community.”
Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, initially sponsored legislation calling
for the program. He said he hoped the incentives would encourage
students to pursue engineering careers with reduced financial pressure.
“We know that access to higher education is challenging,” Villivalam
told Capitol News Illinois. “So making sure that young students and
folks looking at different career opportunities understand that there
are tools available to them to make it more affordable, make it more
accessible to pursue a career in engineering.”
Republican Leader proposes scholarships amid delay
In addition to the Pritzker administration’s IDOT loan repayment
program, Republicans are also working to assist the creation of new
engineers for the state.
Senate Republican Leader John Curran, R-Downers Grove, is a lead sponsor
of Senate Bill 3855, which would create scholarship and living stipend
incentives for engineering students attending Illinois public
universities at the front end of their higher education careers. Curran
supports the student loan repayments in addition to his own proposal,
but noted that the repayments have been delayed.
“I’m glad they’re moving forward with it. It’s well past time,” Curran
told Capitol News Illinois. “We are behind on capital.”
Similar to the student repayment plan, Curran’s scholarship bill
requires eligible students to commit to working for IDOT for at least
three years. He argues that scholarships would unlock more opportunities
for students and help assuage financial concerns that arise from college
decisions sooner.
“It is a way to help not only lock them in early, but also a pathway to
pay for school,” Curran said. “It’s a win-win.”
Curran’s bill was assigned to committee and is currently awaiting a
hearing, with a deadline of Friday.
Aidan Klineman is an undergraduate student in
journalism with Northwestern University’s Medill School of
Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications, and is a
fellow in its Medill Illinois News Bureau working in partnership
with Capitol News Illinois.
Capitol News Illinois is
a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state
government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is
funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R.
McCormick Foundation.
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