Page 7 - Aruba Today
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U.S. NEWS A7
Friday 15 January 2016
US Financial Front:
More employers try to help workers pay student loans
JOSEPH PISANI than 460 human resource Gradifi, to handle the new est cohort in the workforce benefit.
AP Business Writer managers conducted by benefit. last year, according to the Workers need to examine
NEW YORK (AP) — Employ- the Society for Human Re- Gradifi and Tuition.io focus Pew Research Center, and the benefits carefully. If refi-
ers are discovering that source Management. on processing the pay- their options are improving nancing, they should make
making it easier for work- But more are starting to of- ments by employers; each along with the job market. sure the terms are better
ers to pay off their student fer it, including some big- say they already are work- The vast majority say their than what they already
loans helps to attract and name companies. ing with about 100 com- ability to pay student loans pay.
keep a happy workforce. Beginning in July, New York- panies each to provide would affect whether they Those with federal loans
More and more companies based accounting firm it. Others, including SoFi, take a job, according to may lose protections and
are helping workers refi- PricewaterhouseCoopers
nance their debts at better plans to give certain em- Waitress Laura Haege carries a breakfast to be served at the Waveland Cafe, in Des Moines, Iowa.
rates, giving employees ex- ployees with student loan Employers are discovering that making it easier for workers to pay off their student loans helps to
tra cash for loan payments, debt as much as $1,200 a attract and keep a happy workforce.
or even paying their work- year for up to six years. Kro-
ers’ lenders directly. It’s a nos Inc., a software com- (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
major benefit for millennials pany in Chelmsford, Mas-
— people 35 and under — sachusetts, will pay em- Credible and Common- a survey by the American perks by switching to oth-
who are struggling to pay ployees up to $500 a year Bond, enable companies Student Assistance, a non- er lenders. And loan pay-
thousands of dollars in stu- toward student loan debts to help refinance their profit that helps borrowers ments — like cash — are
dent debts as they enter for as long as they need it. workers’ student debts with manage their student debt. currently taxable as in-
the workforce. And some U.S. employees more manageable rates Lin pays about $150 on her come.
“It’s actually helped me of Paris-based Natixis Glob- and payment plans. debts each month, and Legislation in Congress
quite a lot,” says Christina al Asset Management can EdAssist, which has man- ChowNow chips in another could change that. The
Lin, a graphic designer who get $5,000 to go toward aged tuition payment ben- percentage, about $40. Employer Participation in
sliced her $3,800 in student their federal loans, plus efits for employers for about The Los Angeles company, Student Loan Assistance
loan debt in half within six more if they stay with the nine years, began offering which powers online and Act, for example, proposes
months with help from her company for more than student loan repayments app ordering for restau- making up to $5,250 a year
employer, ChowNow. five years. as well last year. rants, now pays up to $500 in employer payments for
This is not as simple as it Microsoft Corp. gives its “Millennials are asking for per year per employee, student loan debts tax-free
sounds: Many college workers the option to re- it,” says Bruce Elliott, a man- and plans to increase that for the worker, and eligible
graduates end up owing finance student loans at ager of compensation and to $1,000 this year. for tax breaks for the em-
multiple lenders, and the discounted interest rates benefits at the Society for “It’s harder to hire great ployer. The bill introduced
tax implications can be thanks to the company’s Human Resource Manage- talent, and this is another in October is sponsored
complicated. Employers relationship with online ment. great tool to do that,” says by Republican Rep. Rod-
also want to make sure the lender SoFi. It doesn’t cost That matters, because mil- Christopher Webb, the ney Davis of Illinois, and
money goes to the right Redmond, Washington- lennials surpassed Genera- CEO of ChowNow, which has been gathering co-
place. based Microsoft anything, tion X to become the larg- uses Tuition.io to handle the sponsors.q
but SoFi says some of its 200
This has created a niche clients pay the lender to
for a handful of startups deliver even lower rates for
helping employers deliver their workers.
the benefit. The class of 2014 graduated
Just 3 percent of employ- with an average of $28,950
ers helped workers repay in student loan debt, up 2
student loans last year, ac- percent from the year be-
cording to a survey of more fore, according to the Proj-
ect on Student Loan Debt.
Employers say workers tell
them their debts make it
impossible to save for retire-
ment or buy a home.
“Millennials are being
crushed by student debt,”
says Michael Fenlon, the
global talent leader at
PricewaterhouseCoopers,
which enlisted a startup,
