- Key insight: Learn how student-loan and education benefits can break long-term employee debt cycles.
- What's at stake: Rising collections could worsen retention, hiring costs and workforce mobility.
- Expert quote: Scott Thompson: Loan burdens now affect employees of all ages, not just younger borrowers.
- Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review
As economic issues like inflation and
Those with federal student loans will
Benefits that blend education support and financial help, like
"It's not [just] a young person's problem — it's people of all ages who, in a lot of cases, have done the right thing, and they find themselves in a situation some number of years later that they didn't expect to be in," he says. "The worst part is that it's going to get worse, not better, under the current policies and changes that are being rolled out."
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Benefits with a broad reach
Even if an employer can't contribute financially, benefit leaders can partner with third parties like tuition.io to help workers understand and take advantage of the many consolidation and repayment assistance options that exist, says Jeni Burckart, tuition.io's VP of healthcare and workforce services and an expert in student loan debt.
"Things like public service loan forgiveness — people just do not know about it," she says, referring to the government program that allows qualifying employees to end their payments after 10 years. "That's not a high-cost thing for an employer to offer because it's federal dollars, and it has a great outcome."
As part of their retention strategy, Burckart recommends leaders examine how employees' roles will change due to things like AI technology incorporation, and whether professional development or further education is necessary to train them for something else. In these instances, funding free courses, certifications or tuition reimbursement may be a good option. Thompson notes this as an essential strategy in areas like healthcare and other frontline industries, where talent demand exceeds supply.
"You already have all these people inside your organization that you can use these benefits to help upskill and train," he says. "That's a good use of your money, and the retention in that case is crystal clear: If you're helping an individual to achieve a new role, they are not leaving your organization."
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Burckart notes the strength education benefits bring to recruitment as well, as employees know from the start they are encouraged to be more financially stable and grow within the organization. The result is a win-win for workers and the business.
"Especially in financially challenging times, like right now, upskilling and having upward career mobility is one of the best ways to ensure financial stability," she says. "That really meets an employee's needs, and provides them a safe landing zone, too."
As benefit leaders look into the best ways to make employees happy and successful, there is much to be gained from adding as many applicable education offerings as they can.
"[It's very powerful for an employer to say,] 'We're going to help demystify this, and we're going to make sure if it applies to you, you get your student loans forgiven,'" Thompson says. "And if you want to take advantage of education at any time to continue to improve your skills and your career and your upward mobility, we're going to do that for you, too."
