The Need for Student Loan Assistance
With a tightening talent market — especially around knowledge work, where skills may become outdated in as little as five years — many employers are struggling to find qualified workers. And the competition is causing employers to search for workforce development programs and other ways of distinguishing their companies in the eyes of prospective employees.
Student loan repayment benefits have emerged as a highly attractive option for both employers and prospective hires. Student debt is a critical financial stressor for many people in the workforce today, often causing employees to move from job to job, looking for the highest paying opportunity to help cover their debt payments. Many workers report that their student loans prevent them from considering certain career choices or from specializing in fields where additional training would be necessary. And the heavy burden of student debt is preventing many from adequately saving for retirement or other financial goals.
A strategically designed employer student loan repayment program can elevate an employer’s brand, providing a powerful tool for recruiting workers, retaining them, and freeing them to continue their education. Supported by expert and personalized guidance, the right student loan repayment benefits can also help the 70% of graduates with debt find a confident path to financial well-being.
Student loan repayment benefits are ranked by employees as a highly valued program that sets employers apart from their competition, and a high-impact benefit that can reduce loan periods by years, saving thousands of dollars in interest.
Student Loan Repayment Benefits Through Bright Horizons
A leading provider of solutions that help companies support employees and working families, Bright Horizons offers a student loan repayment benefits program that can take years off loans while building financial wellness and helping to meet your organization's goals.
Our flexible programs for student loan repayment benefits can target individual populations or be rolled out across global sites and can include both employer contributions toward employees’ student loans and financial guidance for achieving lasting financial wellness.
Employer contributions can help reduce the total amount employees owe on their loans, significantly shortening repayment terms, and reducing the amount of interest paid, while expert coaching can help employees find the most effective way to pay off the balance of their loans and develop sound financial habits. As a result, employees have a clear path to a debt-free future and freedom from the money problems that often hinder performance.
Our student loan repayment benefits program includes:
- A configurable platform with simple, guided navigation for employee participants and tools employers can use to automate customized rules
- Detailed reporting on participation and retention growth
- SOC-2 certification, the highest standard for security to keep employee data protected
- The ability to increase contributions toward student loans to improve retention
- Programs based on best practices developed by the industry’s longest-running student loan benefits provider
- Financial wellness coaching from student debt experts, helping employees build action plans to meet their debt repayment goals and to assess and compare options for consolidation, refinancing, and loan forgiveness
How Student Loan Repayment Benefits Help Employers
A student loan repayment benefits program can help your organization:
- Maintain a competitive advantage in a tight labor market
- Attract talented employees who are striving for financial wellbeing
- Reduce turnover for experienced employees; attract young employees
- Increase the talent pool for particular specialties
More Employee Support Solutions From Bright Horizons
Additional Bright Horizons education benefits for improving recruitment, retention, and talent development include:
-
Tuition Program Management: This tuition reimbursement program aligns employee ambitions with corporate goals for talent, eliminating financial barriers to participation, reducing the time to completion of certifications and degrees, and helping to build a more loyal and skilled workforce.
-
Education Access: Through educational partnerships with carefully chosen, cost-effective, high-quality educational institutions, this educational assistance program provides access to education and training for employees for whom traditional education solutions are not a good fit.
Additional Solutions For Employers
Bright Horizons additional programs for employers include:
- Onsite child care that provides high-quality child care and early education for children of employees, improving recruitment and enhancing retention.
- Elder care that provides access to services for employees caring for an aging parent or relative.
- College coaching, supporting parents in the complex and taxing process of preparing a child for applying to college.
- Special needs services, providing working parents with the resources to help children succeed academically and beyond.
- Additional support for working families that includes assistance with family, pet care, or household responsibilities, enabling employees to more effectively deliver on their goals at work.
- Workforce consulting that helps to build a sustainable talent pipeline and that identifies and removes obstacles in the workplace environment that can hinder performance.
- Tuition EdAssist solutions, a powerful recruitment, retention, and talent development program that includes a tuition reimbursement program and provides education coaching, discounts at educational institutions, access to higher education for employees, and help with student loan repayment.