Source: Farragut Chamber
Student loan debt is the new normal. According to the Brookings Institute, more than 44 million Americans have student loans that total nearly $1.4 trillion.1 Student loan debt is now the second-largest source of household debt in the U.S. after home mortgages. The average college graduate earns both a diploma and student debt in the amount of $39,400 (on average).2 You’re probably wondering how supporting your employees’ student debt can help your business. It can when it comes to recruiting top talent and differentiating your company’s offerings from others. A recent survey from American Student Assistance (a private nonprofit dedicated to eliminating fi nance as a barrier to education and the dream education enables) showed how burdensome student loan debt is to young workers.3 The study showed that 86% of young workers would commit to a company for five years if it helped pay off their student debt. Even more telling is that three in five workers say paying student loans is more of a priority than saving for retirement. Since student loan debt can be a major burden for your employees, you would be way ahead of your competitors if your company specifically offers assistance on student loan payments. Currently, given that only four percent of companies offer student loan debt assistance, you could be in a better position to attract the attention of top tier talent. Companies can do a number of things to help employees with their student loan debt. By just providing your employees with some student loan debt education, your company is doing more than most. Student loan debt can be refinanced just like a home mortgage. By providing access to a student loan refinancing company, you’re helping your employees get a handle on their financial situation and address the burden of their student debt. Your company can also provide payment assistance. Companies can do this as a onetime payment, or monthly contributions to their employees’ student loan payments. By assisting financially, your top employees are less likely to leave which helps with both profit and productivity. Education Loan Finance, a division of SouthEast Bank, has a new program called ELFI for Business to help you navigate this new recruitment opportunity. Visit our website at www.elfi.com to learn more or send questions to answers@elfi.com.
Footnotes:
1: https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-looming-student-loan-default-crisis-is-worse-than-we-thought/
2: https://studentloanhero.com/student-loan-debt-statistics/
3: www.asa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/asa_young_worker_and_student_debt_survey_report.pdf