A bill that would support efforts to keep teaching students in Utah's colleges and universities working in the state received preliminary approval in the Senate Wednesday.

The HB241 would appropriate $692,300 to the State Board of Regents for the Terrel H. Bell Teaching Incentive Loans Program that would provide loans to students who enter a teacher licensure program and declare an intent to teach in the state.

It would forgive a year of the loan for each year the student teaches in a Utah classroom. The bill aims to address Utah teacher shortages. Many teaching students leave the state after they graduate and take jobs in areas where pay is better.

Meanwhile, Utah school enrollment is expected to increase by nearly 50 percent in the next two decades, and its teaching force is not expected to keep up. A 2003 Utah educator supply and demand study shows Utah could see a shortage of 1,200 teachers a year.