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Want a way out of your student debt? Try moving to Newburgh Heights, Ohio.
The 2,000-resident town, less than 10 miles from Cleveland, is offering to help college graduates pay off their student debt.
The rules are simple:
- Be a graduate with student debt from a four-year accredited college or university.
- Buy a house in the town valued at $50,000 or more within five years of graduating.
- After 15 years, the town will pay off half of your debt, up to $50,000.
- Even if you pay off the debt before the 15 years is up, you’ll still receive the amount owed when you first enrolled in the town’s program.
- This deal is locked down, so even if the program is ended, you’ll still get your payout.
The town’s mayor, Trevor Elkins, told CNBC he’s tired of seeing young people leave Newburgh Heights behind. “We wanted to provide an incentive for them to stay and put down roots here in the community, transitioning from the old Rust Belt manufacturing economy to a knowledge-based economy of health care and technology,” he said.
Deals like this aren’t just happening in this Ohio town. As student debt has come to burden Americans more than auto or credit card debt, several cities and states have created creative ways to help residents with the loans, said Mark Kantrowitz, an expert on education debt. Maine recently introduced a program that allows student borrowers to save on their income taxes.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal and Comcast Ventures are investors in Acorns.
