UConn pushes 'Work Plus' as model to expand paid internships statewide; lawmakers weigh tax credit and supports for small businesses

Officials from the University of Connecticut described a campus program, Work Plus, that turns paid student employment into structured, skill‑building internships and asked the committee to support House Bill 5478 to scale this approach statewide.

Jim Lowe, associate vice president and executive director for UConn's Center for Career Readiness, said Work Plus currently serves about 560 working students and trains supervisors to build student skills aligned with nationally recognized career‑readiness competencies. He said students in Work Plus showed meaningful gains on measures of career readiness and persistence. "Work Plus provides that paid, structured experience—paid internships improve persistence, degree completion and post‑graduate employability while advancing equity for first‑generation and low‑income students," Lowe said.

The bill before the committee would provide stipends for Pell‑eligible students, create a statewide quality seal for internships, require transparent reporting of internship outcomes, and expand a human‑capital tax credit to wages paid to interns. Small‑business representatives (CBIA) supported the bill but asked the committee to allow pass‑through entities (LLCs, S‑corps) to access any tax credit so small employers can participate.

Witnesses noted a major barrier to statewide scale: human capital required to train supervisors, monitor quality and support students. UConn said it has the training tools and infrastructure but needs additional staffing and funding to expand to thousands of students and small off‑campus employers. The committee asked staff to refine fiscal and implementation details before advancing the bill.