Skip to main content
  • Foundation
  • Executive network
  • CEO Circle
  • Enterprise Solutions
  • Linkage Logo
  • Store
  • Sign In
  • Account
    • My Account
    • Logout
    • Global
    • India
    • MENA
SHRM
About
Book a Speaker
Join Today
Renew
Rejoin Now
Renew
  • Membership
  • Certification
    Certification

    Smiling asian student studying in library with laptop books doing online research for coursework, making notes for essay homework assignment, online education e-learning concept
    Get Certified!

    Be recognized as an HR leader with your SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP credential.

    • How to Get Certified

      Demonstrate your ability to apply HR principles to real-life situations. No other HR certification compares.

      • How to Get Certified
      • Eligibility Criteria
      • Exam Details and Fees
      • SHRM-CP
      • SHRM-SCP
      • Which Certification is Best for Me
      • Certification FAQs
    • Prepare for the Exam

      Give yourself the best chance to pass your SHRM certification exam.

      • Exam Preparation
      • SHRM BASK
      • SHRM Learning System
      • Instructor-Led Learning
      • Self-Study
      • Study Aids & Add-ons
    • Recertification

      Recertify your SHRM Credentials before your end date!

      • Specialty Credentials
      • Qualifications
  • Topics & Tools
    Topics & Tools

    Stay up to date with workplace news and leverage our vast library of resources to streamline day-to-day HR tasks.

    The white house in washington, dc.
    Executive Order Impact Zone

    Do not abandon, but evaluate and evolve. It is about legal, equal opportunity for all.

    • News & Trends

      Follow breaking news and emerging workplace trends.

      Legal & Compliance

      Stay informed on workplace legal updates and their impacts.

      From the Workplace

      Explore diverse perspectives from your peers on today's workplaces.

      Flagships

      Get curated collections of podcasts, videos, articles, and more produced by SHRM.

    • HR Topics
      • AI in the Workplace
      • Civility at Work
      • Compensation & Benefits
      • Inclusion & Diversity
      • Talent Acquisition
      • Workplace Technology
      • Workplace Violence Prevention
      SEE ALL
      SHRM Research
    • Tools & Samples

      Access member resources and tools to streamline HR tasks.

      • Forms & Checklists
      • How-To Guides
      • Interactive Tools
      • Job Descriptions
      • Policies
      • Toolkits
      SEE ALL
      Ask an Advisor
  • Events & Education
    Events & Education

    SHRM25 in San Diego, June 29 - July 2, 2025
    Join us for SHRM25 in San Diego

    Register for the World’s Largest HR Conference being held on June 29 - July 2, 2025

    • Events
      • SHRM25
      • The AI+HI Project 2025
      • INCLUSION 2025
      • Talent 2026
      • Linkage Institute 2025
      SEE ALL
      Webinars
    • Educational Programs

      Designed and delivered by HR experts to empower you with the knowledge and tools you need to drive lasting change in the workplace.

      Specialty Credentials

      Demonstrate targeted competence and enhance credibility among peers and employers.

      Qualifications

      Gain a deeper understanding and develop critical skills.

    • Team Training & Development

      Customized training programs unique to your organization’s needs.

  • Business Solutions
  • Advocacy
    Advocacy

    Make your voice heard on public policy issues impacting the workplace.

    Advocacy
    SHRM's President & CEO testifies to Congress on "The State of American Education"
    • Policy Areas
      • Workforce Development
      • Workplace Inclusion
      • Workplace Flexibility & Leave
      • Workplace Governance
      • Workplace Health Care
      • Workplace Immigration
      State Affairs

      SHRM advances policy solutions in state legislatures nationwide.

      Global Policy

      SHRM is the go-to for global HR leaders and businesses on workplace matters.

    • Advocacy Team (A-Team)

      SHRM’s A-Team is a key member benefit, giving you the tools, insights, and opportunities to shape workplace policy and drive real impact.

      Take Action

      Urge lawmakers to support policies that create lasting, positive change.

      Advocacy & Legislative Resources

      Access SHRM’s curated policy materials and content.

    • SHRM-Led Coalitions
      • Generation Cares
      • The Section 127 Coalition
      • Learn More & Partner with SHRM Government Affairs
  • Community
    Community

    Woman raising hand in group
    Find a SHRM Chapter

    Easily find a local professional or student chapter in your area.

    • Chapters

      Find local connections from over 607 chapters and state councils and create your personalized HR network.

      SHRM Connect

      Post polls, get crowdsourced answers to your questions and network with other HR professionals online.

      SHRM Northern California

      Join SHRM members in the greater San Francisco Bay area for local events and networking.

    • Membership Councils

      Learn about SHRM's five regional councils and the Membership Advisory Council (MAC).

      • Membership Advisory Council
      • Regional Councils
    • Volunteers

      Learn about volunteer opportunities with SHRM.

      • Volunteer Leader Resource Center
Close
  • Membership
  • Certification
    back
    Certification
    Smiling asian student studying in library with laptop books doing online research for coursework, making notes for essay homework assignment, online education e-learning concept
    Get Certified!

    Be recognized as an HR leader with your SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP credential.

    • How to Get Certified

      Demonstrate your ability to apply HR principles to real-life situations. No other HR certification compares.

      • How to Get Certified
      • Eligibility Criteria
      • Exam Details and Fees
      • SHRM-CP
      • SHRM-SCP
      • Which Certification is Best for Me
      • Certification FAQs
    • Prepare for the Exam

      Give yourself the best chance to pass your SHRM certification exam.

      • Exam Preparation
      • SHRM BASK
      • SHRM Learning System
      • Instructor-Led Learning
      • Self-Study
      • Study Aids & Add-ons
    • Recertification

      Recertify your SHRM Credentials before your end date!

      • Specialty Credentials
      • Qualifications
  • Topics & Tools
    back
    Topics & Tools

    Stay up to date with workplace news and leverage our vast library of resources to streamline day-to-day HR tasks.

    The white house in washington, dc.
    Executive Order Impact Zone

    Do not abandon, but evaluate and evolve. It is about legal, equal opportunity for all.

    • News & Trends

      Follow breaking news and emerging workplace trends.

      Legal & Compliance

      Stay informed on workplace legal updates and their impacts.

      From the Workplace

      Explore diverse perspectives from your peers on today's workplaces.

      Flagships

      Get curated collections of podcasts, videos, articles, and more produced by SHRM.

    • HR Topics
      • AI in the Workplace
      • Civility at Work
      • Compensation & Benefits
      • Inclusion & Diversity
      • Talent Acquisition
      • Workplace Technology
      • Workplace Violence Prevention
      SEE ALL
      SHRM Research
    • Tools & Samples

      Access member resources and tools to streamline HR tasks.

      • Forms & Checklists
      • How-To Guides
      • Interactive Tools
      • Job Descriptions
      • Policies
      • Toolkits
      SEE ALL
      Ask an Advisor
  • Events & Education
    back
    Events & Education
    SHRM25 in San Diego, June 29 - July 2, 2025
    Join us for SHRM25 in San Diego

    Register for the World’s Largest HR Conference being held on June 29 - July 2, 2025

    • Events
      • SHRM25
      • The AI+HI Project 2025
      • INCLUSION 2025
      • Talent 2026
      • Linkage Institute 2025
      SEE ALL
      Webinars
    • Educational Programs

      Designed and delivered by HR experts to empower you with the knowledge and tools you need to drive lasting change in the workplace.

      Specialty Credentials

      Demonstrate targeted competence and enhance credibility among peers and employers.

      Qualifications

      Gain a deeper understanding and develop critical skills.

    • Team Training & Development

      Customized training programs unique to your organization’s needs.

  • Business Solutions
  • Advocacy
    back
    Advocacy

    Make your voice heard on public policy issues impacting the workplace.

    Advocacy
    SHRM's President & CEO testifies to Congress on "The State of American Education"
    • Policy Areas
      • Workforce Development
      • Workplace Inclusion
      • Workplace Flexibility & Leave
      • Workplace Governance
      • Workplace Health Care
      • Workplace Immigration
      State Affairs

      SHRM advances policy solutions in state legislatures nationwide.

      Global Policy

      SHRM is the go-to for global HR leaders and businesses on workplace matters.

    • Advocacy Team (A-Team)

      SHRM’s A-Team is a key member benefit, giving you the tools, insights, and opportunities to shape workplace policy and drive real impact.

      Take Action

      Urge lawmakers to support policies that create lasting, positive change.

      Advocacy & Legislative Resources

      Access SHRM’s curated policy materials and content.

    • SHRM-Led Coalitions
      • Generation Cares
      • The Section 127 Coalition
      • Learn More & Partner with SHRM Government Affairs
  • Community
    back
    Community
    Woman raising hand in group
    Find a SHRM Chapter

    Easily find a local professional or student chapter in your area.

    • Chapters

      Find local connections from over 607 chapters and state councils and create your personalized HR network.

      SHRM Connect

      Post polls, get crowdsourced answers to your questions and network with other HR professionals online.

      SHRM Northern California

      Join SHRM members in the greater San Francisco Bay area for local events and networking.

    • Membership Councils

      Learn about SHRM's five regional councils and the Membership Advisory Council (MAC).

      • Membership Advisory Council
      • Regional Councils
    • Volunteers

      Learn about volunteer opportunities with SHRM.

      • Volunteer Leader Resource Center
Join Today
Renew
Rejoin Now
Renew
  • Store
    • Global
    • India
    • MENA
  • About
  • Book a Speaker
  • Foundation
  • Executive network
  • CEO Circle
  • Enterprise Solutions
  • Linkage Logo
SHRM
Sign In
  • Account
    • My Account
    • Logout
Close

  1. Topics & Tools
  2. Workplace News & Trends
  3. Employee Relations
  4. In a Tight Talent Market, an Employer's Help with Education Expenses Can Turn a Candidate's Head
Share
  • Linked In
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vivamus convallis sem tellus, vitae egestas felis vestibule ut.


Error message details.

Copy button
Reuse Permissions

Request permission to republish or redistribute SHRM content and materials.


Learn More
News

In a Tight Talent Market, an Employer's Help with Education Expenses Can Turn a Candidate's Head

May 30, 2019 | Dana Wilkie

A graduation cap and money on a balance scale.


​When Janice Flanders graduated from college in the early '90s, she had no student loan debt, thanks to her then-employer's tuition assistance program. She worked full time right out of high school, went to school part time, and was reimbursed for her tuition payments based on her grades: 100 percent for an A, 80 percent for a B, and 70 percent for a C.

Now that her son is a college graduate who has student loan debt, Flanders recognizes how important such programs are. So she's trying to get one started at the Ohio company where she is the HR director.

"I worked full time and went to school part time to get my college degree, and the 100 percent reimbursement is one of the reasons I graduated with honors," said Flanders, SHRM-SCP, who asked that her real name not be used. "I encouraged [my son] to try to negotiate student loan assistance as part of his [compensation] package when he was looking for work. He landed a great job, but no luck with the student loan assistance."

Student loan debt is a growing problem in the United States. In 2010, the student loan debt countrywide totaled $830 billion. Now the latest data from the Federal Reserve shows that more than 44 million people collectively owe $1.5 trillion. About 65 percent of the current student loan debt belongs to people under age 40. Seven out of 10 new college graduates owe, on average, $37,172.

Some employers are stepping in to help workers pay their debts—and attract top talent, as well. At a time of record-low unemployment, when the competition for talented workers is fierce, these companies have found that they can turn a job candidate's head by offering tuition assistance or helping to pay student loans.  

"We see more and more employers adopting benefit options to help their employees with student loan debt," said Ashwini Srikantiah, vice president for student debt programs at Fidelity Investments, which is managing a student debt relief program offered by insurance firm Unum. "We're in a time where the number of people with student debt and the amount of student debt they carry far exceeds what it was in the past, and trend lines show this is not going to go away anytime soon."

Eight percent of organizations polled for the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM's) 2019 Employee Benefits survey offer taxable contributions to help employees repay student loans, up from 4 percent in 2018. About half of the organizations said they provide tax-exempt undergraduate or graduate education assistance. More findings from the survey of more than 3,500 HR professionals will be released in June.

SHRM supports legislation that would let employers give tax-free student loan assistance up to $5,250 a year per employee. 

See a summary of SHRM's position on other workplace issues here.

Most Graduates Carry More Than $10,000 in Student Loan Debt

The average student loan debt per graduate of the Class of 2016 was $16,723. Sixty percent of that class graduated with student loan debt. Below is a breakdown of that debt by amount.

​Debt Size
​Number of Borrowers
​Total Debt Amount
​Less than $5K
​8.8 million
​$23.1 billion
​$5K - $10K
​7.7 million
​$56.5 billion
​$10K - $20K
​9.4 million
​$135.3 billion
​$20K - $40K
​9.4 million
​$266.5 billion
​$40K - $60K
​4.0 million
​$195.2 billion
​$60K - $80K
2.3 million
​$161.2 billion
​$80K - $100K
​1.1 million
​$100.1 billion
​$100K - $200K
​1.9 million
​$261.7 billion
Greater than $200K
​600,000
​$182 billion​ 

​Source: LendEdu.


What Companies Are Doing

Here are some of the options companies are offering to help employees manage student loan debt:

    • Tax-free education assistance.
    • Paid-time-off (PTO) trades, allowing workers to use PTO to pay down student loans.
    • Student loan repayment plans in which employers make monthly contributions to a worker's loan servicer, so long as the employee makes regular payments to the same.
    • Paid tuition to a selected university, typically for online programs that give students the degrees or skills that meet the company's needs.
    • Contributions to a worker's 401(k) if the worker puts a certain percentage of his or her pay toward student loan repayment. 

While tuition assistance is something employers have long been offering, helping to pay off student loans is new.

Making monthly contributions toward a worker's student loan debt—if the employee also makes payments—appears to be the most popular option right now, said Mike Brown, a research analyst at LendEDU, a Hoboken, N.J.-based company that helps consumers compare financial products.

"This is really the simplest from a clerical standpoint and is the most straightforward," Brown said. "You're essentially cutting in half the time it will take to repay the student loan, [with the worker's] payments and the employer's monthly payments. Because it is quite easy to understand, I think this has become the leader in terms of student loan benefits."

Jeff Oldham is senior vice president at BenefitsPlace Distribution for Benefitfocus, a cloud-based benefits management platform firm based in Charleston, S.C. His company is getting a lot of questions from companies and brokers about the PTO and 401(k) options.

"Both these options are easy for everyone—employers and employees—to understand," he said. "One misconception is that these student loan benefits only assist recent graduates or young adults, when really, older employees may need assistance in paying off college debt for themselves, their children or their grandchildren."

Bill Gimbel, president of LaSalle Benefits, a corporate benefits firm in Northbrook, Ill., said the 401(k) option "shows employees that their employers care about their financial well-being, because saving for retirement oftentimes gets put aside to prioritize student loan repayment."

He continued, "Fortune 1000 companies seem to be leading the charge, with small to midsize companies a little more hesitant due to cost. As Millennials and Gen Z continue to enter the workforce, I can see it becoming more common for small to midsize companies, especially those with a predominantly young workforce, to adopt a program that helps employees with student loan repayment."

Are There Cons?

There can be drawbacks to some of these options.

Under the PTO option, for instance, workers may opt to put so many hours toward repaying their loans that they fail to take enough time off, leaving them burned out and unproductive.

In addition, allowing workers to put an unlimited amount of PTO toward loan payments can get expensive for an employer. Employers should consider putting a cap on the amount of PTO a worker can trade for student loan payments.

Even with that cap, it can still be expensive for an employer to make payments to a loan service, "so finding a source of funding and paying for this benefit has to be evaluated in light of the employer's total benefit and compensation offerings," said Carl Gagnon, Unum's assistant vice president of global financial well-being and retirement programs. Under Unum's student debt relief program, each year employees can use up to 40 hours of PTO that they've carried over from the previous year against student loan debt.  

[SHRM members-only sample policy:  Educational Assistance: Job-Relatedness Requirement]

Is It Fair?

Some critics note that it may not seem fair to workers if their companies help pay off student loans but don't also help others—perhaps older workers who've long been out of school—with their own financial obligations.

A recent AARP Public Policy Institute report, however, notes that people age 50 or older owe 20 percent of the $1.5 trillion in U.S. student loan debt.

"It is stunning that more families are taking on such sharply greater amounts of student debt than in the past," said Lori Trawinski, director of banking and finance at the institute. "For younger families, this burden impedes their ability to save for other purposes, such as for a home, their children's education or their own retirement. For older families, long-term financial security can be threatened by this burden."

Business Acumen
Employee Engagement
Employee Relations

Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace

​An organization run by AI is not a futuristic concept. Such technology is already a part of many workplaces and will continue to shape the labor market and HR. Here's how employers and employees can successfully manage generative AI and other AI-powered systems.



Related Content

Kelly Dobbs Bunting speaks onstage at SHRM24
(opens in a new tab)
News
Why AI+HI Is Essential to Compliance

HR must always include human intelligence and oversight of AI in decision-making in hiring and firing, a legal expert said at SHRM24. She added that HR can ensure compliance by meeting the strictest AI standards, which will be in Colorado’s upcoming AI law.

(opens in a new tab)
News
A 4-Day Workweek? AI-Fueled Efficiencies Could Make It Happen

The proliferation of artificial intelligence in the workplace, and the ensuing expected increase in productivity and efficiency, could help usher in the four-day workweek, some experts predict.

(opens in a new tab)
News
How One Company Uses Digital Tools to Boost Employee Well-Being

Learn how Marsh McLennan successfully boosts staff well-being with digital tools, improving productivity and work satisfaction for more than 20,000 employees.

HR Daily Newsletter

Stay up to date with the latest HR news, trends, and expert advice each business day.

Success title

Success caption

Manage Subscriptions
  • About SHRM
  • Careers at SHRM
  • Press Room
  • Contact SHRM
  • Book a SHRM Executive Speaker
  • Advertise with Us
  • Partner with Us
  • Copyright & Permissions
  • Post a Job
  • Find an HR Job
Follow Us
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • SHRM Newsletters
  • Ask An Advisor

© 2025 SHRM. All Rights Reserved

SHRM provides content as a service to its readers and members. It does not offer legal advice, and cannot guarantee the accuracy or suitability of its content for a particular purpose. Disclaimer


  1. Privacy Policy

  2. Terms of Use

  3. Accessibility

Join SHRM for Exclusive Access to Member Content

SHRM Members enjoy unlimited access to articles and exclusive member resources.

Already a member?
Free Article
Limit Reached

Get unlimited access to articles and member-exclusive resources.

You've reached the limit of 1 free article this month. Join to access unlimited articles and member-only resources.

Already a member?
Free Article
Exclusive Executive-Level Content

This content is for the SHRM Executive Network and Executive Content Subscription members only.

You've reached the limit of 1 free article this month. Join the Executive Network and enjoy unlimited content.

Already a member?
Free Article
Exclusive Executive-Level Content

This content is for the SHRM Executive Network and Executive Content Subscription members only.

You've reached the limit of 1 free article this month. Join and enjoy unlimited access to SHRM Executive Network Content.

Already a member?
Unlock Your Career with SHRM Membership

Please enjoy this free resource! Join SHRM for unlimited access to exclusive articles and tools.

Already a member?

Your membership is almost expired! Renew today for unlimited access to member content.

Renew now

Your membership has expired. Renew today for unlimited access to member content.

Renew Now

Your Executive Network membership is nearing its expiration. Renew now to maintain access.

Renew Now

Your membership has expired. Renew your Executive Network benefits today.

Renew Now