PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 12

Upfront
Simple Steps
To Offering
Student Loan
Repayment
Benefits
ACCORDING to industry specialists,
the first step to rolling out a student loan
repayment program is simply to conduct
research and collect some preliminary
data-the goal being to reach a better
understanding of one's work-force student
loan debt burden.
Plan sponsors may be surprised to
learn that student debt affects more than
just newly hired Millennials. Industry
findings show that U.S. student loan
debt has topped $1.4 trillion, including
nearly $75 billion in PLUS [parent loan for
undergraduate students] loans taken by
individuals on behalf of their college-age
children.
" Take a systematic approach to understanding
your employees' needs related
to student debt, " recommends Leigh
Gross, vice president of partnerships for
CommonBond, a marketplace lender that
refinances student loans for university
graduates. " This could involve conducting
both formal and informal organizational
assessments to understand your
employees' student debt situation from the
bottom up, and how [that] could change
in the near or mid-term future, " she says.
" While internal surveys are an option,
they may not always accurately capture the
extent of your team's financial hardships,
depending on how willing your workers
are to open up about this highly sensitive
subject. "
Using a third party to compile qualitative
and quantitative data may help
clarify the extent of the employees' student
12 PLANSPONSOR.com June-July 2018
debt and financial wellness, she says. Once
this baseline has been established and
some fundamental benchmarks set, bring
the idea of student loan debt repayment
to your company's top executives and
human resources (HR) leaders, she says.
The benefit should be framed within
the context of promoting the company's
benefits, overall, including the health plan
and the retirement program.
" The data, paired with specific
recommendations to address your
employees' unique student debt situation,
will be key to getting executive buy-in to
launch an effective student loan benefit
program, " she stresses. " Once you have a
better understanding of your employees'
financial wellness, you'll be in a much
stronger position to evaluate whether all
of your benefits are being leveraged by as
many employees as they should be. "
She notes that it is common to see
employers consider adding student loan
repayment benefits to reallocate budget
dollars spent on less effective benefits.
" Offering student loan benefits to
Art by Sam D'Orazio
your employees is also a powerful social
statement, and this should be discussed
upfront as a great boost to the employer's
image, both internally and externally, "
she adds. " Relying on a provider you trust
and that has substantial subject matter
expertise is key. Make sure the provider
you're working with reflects those same
social values. "
Once an employer commits to delivering
the benefit, Gross advises, assign
a lead internal implementation specialist
to oversee the launch process and the
program's ongoing administration. The
broader benefits staff can support this
person and help deliver a strong communications
plan to best educate employees
about the benefit's value.
" The last suggestion is to make sure
you are consistently measuring the impact
and iterating, over time, " Gross concludes.
" The evidence from plan sponsors that
have introduced these benefits is already
overwhelmingly positive from a worker
attraction and retention perspective. "
-John Manganaro
http://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/june-july_2018/TrackLink.action?pageName=12&exitLink=http%3A%2F%2FPLANSPONSOR.com
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018
