When Joe Biden campaigned to be President of the United States, one of his big promises was to address student debt. In August of 2022, he announced plans to forgive up to $20,000 in student debt for tens of millions of federal student loan borrowers. Understandably, that got lots of people excited. But the Supreme Court then struck down the proposal.
Biden is now trying a different approach to debt relief, with millions of borrowers waiting and watching. If you're tired of waiting, here's a strategy to consider: Get a job with an employer that helps its workers pay off student loans.
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Companies that help you get out of debt
Here's a non-comprehensive list of major companies that have offered assistance to employees with student debt. It can open your eyes to what's possible, but note that company policies can change at any time, so be sure to verify any program before accepting a new job. Note, too, that there are different kinds of assistance offered by different companies.
If your employer doesn't offer help now, it might in the future -- especially if you ask about and express interest in it. Companies do want to attract and retain good workers, and this kind of benefit can be powerful. After all, the average federal student loan debt balance was more than $37,000 as of June. That's a heavy burden for millions of Americans.
On to the companies!
- Abbott Laboratories offers workers its "Freedom 2 Save" program, whereby those who spend at least 2% of their eligible compensation paying down student debt will receive a 5% matching contribution from the company into their Abbott Stock Retirement Plan. So you won't be foregoing saving for retirement while paying off student loans.
- Ally Financial will pay $100 per month toward your student debt, up to $10,000 (that's 100 months -- or 8.3 years).
- Carhartt offers to help pay down a student debt balance via monthly $50 payments, up to a maximum lifetime limit of $10,000. This applies to Parent Plus loans, too.
- Carvana offers its workers up to $1,000 annually to pay off student loans.
- Education specialist Chegg offers employees who have been with the company for at least two years up to $5,000 annually to pay down student loan debt. It also offers an annual $1,000 to workers with student loan debt.
- CVS Health offers student loan refinancing services for its qualifying workers.
- Estee Lauder offers workers up to $100 per month toward student debt, with a lifetime limit of $10,000.
- Privately held Fidelity Investments offers up to $15,000 in contributions toward your student debt.
- First Republic Bank offers to pay $100 per month toward student loan repayments (including loans taken out by parents) for employees, upping that to $150 per month for those who have worked more than a year at the company, and increasing it further to a hefty $200 per month for those who have been with the company for more than two years. It will make these payments until the debt is fully repaid.
- The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation will contribute up to a total of $9,000 toward paying down employee student loans over a five-year period.
- Genworth Financial says: "Our Student Loan Repayment plan allows for employees who have completed approved degrees within the last five years, monthly loan payments paid directly to the loan administrator."
- Alphabet's Google announced in 2020 that it would match up to $2,500 in debt repayments annually for employees with student loans.
- The Hartford Financial Services Group announced a new program in 2019 to offer a lifetime total of $10,000 (per employee) toward workers' student debts.
- Honeywell has offered employees $150 monthly toward student loan repayment, up to a lifetime maximum of $10,000.
- Hulu is offering matching payments of up to $1,200 per year per employee to help them pay off student loans.
- Live Nation Entertainment offers workers up to $100 per month toward student debt, with a lifetime limit of $6,000.
- Lockheed Martin has an "Invest in Me" program that offers college hires $150 monthly for five years (totaling $9,000) -- money that can be used to pay down debts or for other purposes, even saving for retirement.
- Nvidia offers a student loan repayment program whereby eligible employees can request up to $6,000 per year in reimbursement for their payments against their debt -- with a lifetime cap of $30,000.
- Peloton offers a $100-per-month contribution toward employees' student debts. That's $1,200 per year and $6,000 over five years.
- SoFi offers employees $200 per month toward student loan debt repayments.
Plenty of other companies out there also offer student loan debt relief. If you're lucky enough to have or to land a job with one of them, remember that such a benefit may be counted as taxable income to you -- so a $5,000 contribution from your employer might count as $5,000 of income to you, even though it goes to a lender, not to your bank account. (On the other hand, the interest you pay on your loans may be tax-deductible.)
