Vermont
Source: IPEDS Completions, 3-yr avg AY 2022–25 (NCES; 2024–25 provisional), bachelor’s degrees, CIP 14 + 11; China 33.2%: PRC Ministry of Education, 2022 bachelor’s graduates by discipline (NSF NCSES S&E Indicators Fig. HED-30: 32.8%, 2020); Population: Census NST-EST2025.
Vermont at China’s rate would graduate 1,990 engineers a year. It graduates 770.
Vermont produces 770 engineering and computer science bachelor's degrees a year out of 5,993 total, a mid-pack engineering producer, from 8 institutions. At China's rate it would produce 1,990. Output is shrinking (-1.0% over three years). Gap Score: 39% of the China benchmark. Its own economy is projected to open 710 engineering, computing and technician jobs a year through 2034; in-state degrees, associate and bachelor's together, cover 115% of them.
The gap against China’s benchmark
Three-year trend: eng+CS share of degrees
Vermont is missing 1,220 engineers a year at China's rate, roughly 4x the annual output of University of Vermont.
Where Vermont’s engineers are made.
8 institutions produce engineering or computer science bachelor’s degrees in Vermont. The top 8 account for 100% of output.
Every producing institution. Circle area = eng+CS bachelor’s degrees per year
Top producers
| # | Institution | Eng+CS / yr | % of its degrees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Vermont | 306 | 11.3% |
| 2 | Champlain College | 217 | 34.2% |
| 3 | Norwich University | 146 | 20.7% |
| 4 | Middlebury College | 52 | 7.3% |
| 5 | Vermont State University | 25 | 3.6% |
| 6 | Saint Michael's College | 12 | 4.1% |
| 7 | Landmark College | 6 | 11.5% |
| 8 | Bennington College | 6 | 3.7% |
Jobs vs. degrees
Vermont's own labor-market projection, 2024–2034, for engineers, computer occupations and engineering technicians, against the degrees the state produces at every level.
Openings against output
Where the openings are
| Occupation | Openings / yr |
|---|---|
| Software Developers | 120 |
| Computer User Support Specialists | 110 |
| Computer Occupations, All Other | 80 |
| Civil Engineers | 50 |
| Electrical Engineers | 40 |
| Industrial Engineers | 40 |
Coverage: degrees ÷ openings
Openings are the state labor agency’s own 10-year projection: new jobs plus replacing workers who retire or leave the field (BLS method). Not every opening goes to a new graduate, so this is a coverage measure; it does not count vacant positions. Occupations: engineers (SOC 17-2), computer occupations (SOC 15-12) and engineering technicians (SOC 17-3, the associate-degree tier), the jobs CIP 14 + 11 degrees feed; degrees here include associate degrees to match. Source: Vermont labor-market projections via Projections Central (U.S. Dept. of Labor).
Vermont makes engineers it cannot keep
Vermont's demand for engineers is small and concentrated: a legacy IBM fab in Essex Junction chasing gallium nitride with a slice of CHIPS money, and one homegrown electric-aircraft maker doubling its workforce. The state is the only one whose degree output already exceeds projected openings, so every engineer who leaves takes a state-subsidized education elsewhere.
The drain.
Vermont's larger problem is keeping the engineers it trains: most UVM engineering graduates take their first job out of state, the state pays $5,000 a head to change that, and its own young adults say they plan to leave.
Sources: UVM Career Center Class of 2025 Undergraduate Career Outcomes Report; UVM Career Center; VTDigger; Vermont Futures Project via VTDigger
Who’s covering it.
Reporters already cover this, but no one has combined it into a single number the way the Index does.
The fix, in Vermont.
Make the $5,000 a contract
The Green Mountain Job and Retention Program already pays graduates $5,000 for two years of Vermont work but reaches only 169 a year. Fold it into a Digital ROTC service-for-tuition track at UVM and VTSU: tuition covered up front for engineering and CS students who commit to Vermont employers, instead of a small rebate after the fact.
Tie VEGI to the pipeline
The Legislature made VEGI permanent in 2026 (Act 128). Any future award should require recipients like Beta and GlobalFoundries to fund co-op and CCV-VTSU seats matched to their job targets, so incentive dollars pay to train in-state graduates.
Rebuild the CCV-to-fab pathway
Vermont's associate share of engineering output is tiny and VTSU keeps cutting technical programs. Use the GaN Tech Hub's stalled training component and GF's tuition-paid technician apprenticeship as the model: state-funded two-year seats at CCV and VTSU Randolph, repaid by service at the Essex fab or Beta's line.
What Digital ROTC would fund
Digital ROTC: federal student loans that cover two years of engineering, computer science, or cybersecurity school at a community college, whether those years end in an associate degree or transfer into a bachelor’s program. The loans are forgiven in full after 24 to 36 months of service in government technology roles. In Vermont, 6% of engineering-track credentials are associate degrees today. Digital ROTC is built to expand that community-college route.