Chegg
The company that specializes in online tutoring, online textbook rentals, scholarships, and other methods to help high school and college students with their education is now helping graduates among its ranks, too.
Employees who face student loan debt will receive an annual contribution of $1,000 towards paying off their debt. There is no limit on how many years they can receive this benefit, as long as they are still employees and they still owe student debt. Chegg partnered with Tuition.io to deploy this benefit.
"This benefit is evidence that we are willing to put our money where our values are and we certainly hope that many more companies offer this benefit — because with more than $1.2 trillion in outstanding student debt, this is not a problem that can fix itself," Usher Lieberman, vice president of communications, told Business Insider.
Chegg has about 350 US employees, and 20% of those eligible for the benefit are participating. The benefit has been in effect since 2015.
Total possible reimbursement: Unlimited
Fidelity Investments
Fidelity Investments offers employees the Step Ahead Student Loan Assistance program, which contributes $2,000 annually for up to five years toward eligible employees' student loan debt.
"As a financial services firm, this was really concerning to us and we felt that providing a benefit like student loan repayment assistance helps us to address a very real financial concern that is impacting our employees directly," Fidelity representative Alicia Curran Sweeney told Business Insider about the company's realization that many debt-holders have to put off major life decisions as they divert money toward their loans.
Full-time employees with more than six months of tenure are eligible for the benefit, but if an employee chooses to continue their education and sign up for the company's Tuition Reimbursement Program, they will not be eligible to receive a Fidelity contribution from the Step Ahead Student Loan Assistance for the same loan.
Total possible reimbursement: $10,000
CommonBond
The technology-enabled lender, which currently focuses on student lending, offers its 90 employees $1,200 a year towards their student loan debt.
More than half are taking advantage of this benefit, according to Phil DeGisi, chief marketing officer for CommonBond. There is currently no cap on how much assistance they can get.
"It's an investment in people," DeGisi said, when asked about whether the benefit would be expensive for the company. "It's a competitive rate for top talent. It's important for us to get the best talent, and for us to retain that talent."
Any employee at CommonBond with outstanding student loans qualifies for the benefit, regardless of their level and how long they've been employed.
Total possible reimbursement: Unlimited
LendEDU
This small California-based student loan service provider started about a year and a half ago and currently has six full-time employees.
The current benefit offers employees $200 a month toward student loan debt. There is currently no cap for that benefit because "we want to use it as a tool to retain our employees," Nate Matherson, CEO of LendEDU, told Business Insider.
"Rather than offering benefits like free dog walking, free lunches, or free gym memberships, we wanted to offer a more changeable benefit," Matherson said.
The only requirement for LendEDU employees to get this benefit is to have student loans. Currently three of the six employees are taking advantage of the benefit.
Total possible reimbursement: Unlimited
Natixis Global Asset Management
The asset management company has 3,500 employees globally, and its US office in Boston, Massachusetts currently has 500 employees. The company contributes a total of $10,000 towards an employee's Federal Stafford or Perkins loans, according to the SHRM.
Employees who have been with the company for five years or more are eligible for $5,000 towards their debt, and will have an opportunity to earn an additional $1,000 each year for five years after that. The loan repayment benefit is has not yet begun — it will roll out this July.
"We are doing everything we can to point our employees towards a good financial future," Elizabeth Bartlett, Natixis' vice president of public relations, told Business Insider. "It's not costly if you look at the good will and motivation we have as a financial service company."
Total possible reimbursement: $10,000
Powertex
This Eau Claire, Wisconsin company which designs, manufactures, and sells branded merchandise recently signed up with Boston-based startup Gradifi to offer its 75 employees $100 a month towards student loan debt for up to six years.
After Gray Powers, vice president of sales at Powertex, saw the massive amount of money employees pay towards student loans each month, he really wanted to do something about it. He came up with the idea of helping employees with student loan debt, Powertex told Business Insider.
"We wanted to offer a benefit that was meaningful, since a majority of our workforce is recent graduates," accountant and HR assistant Rebecca Hintzman said.
Full-time employees who received an associate's degree or higher and have loans under their name will be eligible for the benefit. The loan repayment benefit will be implemented in May. Employees who sign up then will their first payment by July.
Total possible reimbursement: $7,200
Pricewaterhouse Coopers
This global consulting and accounting firm is offering a benefit known as the Student Loan Paydown (SLP), which offers $100 a month towards employees' student loan debt for up to six years or when the employee is promoted to manager level, whichever comes first.
According to Michael Fenlon, PwC's global talent leader, the amount could have a value of $10,000 (because of interest on the principal amount) and help shave off 2-3 years of payments.
PwC is offering the Student Loan Paydown because our people have told us that it's an issue that matters to them," said Fenlon. "It ties to a bigger commitment at our firm, and it's our goal to help solve important problems for our clients and society. We think student debt is a major societal problem, and we want to be leaders in helping to solve it."
The program is currently in its 76-person pilot phase, and will go live July 1.
Total possible reimbursement: $7,200
