The University System of New Hampshire plans to begin marketing a new program to businesses this summer in an effort to entice more graduates of the state’s colleges and universities to remain there, The Union Leader, a newspaper in Manchester, N.H., reported. Companies that participate in the plan, called the Stay Work Play Incentive Program, would contribute a total of $8,000 to a recent graduate’s student-loan debt over four years of employment. The money would be paid in installments to the employee’s student-loan provider after each year of service was completed.

The program will be available to new graduates starting this fall, Matt Cookson, the university system’s associate vice chancellor for external relations, told the newspaper. Planners hope to have 30 to 40 participating companies in the program’s first year. Two Manchester high-tech employers — Dynamic Network Services Inc. and the Gentex Corporation — have already signed on. —Charles Huckabee