Currently, just 4 percent of employers offer student debt assistance. But that’s changing as more employers come to realize education debt is a problem for many of their workers, said Katie Berliner, account executive at YouDecide, a benefits firm.
“In order to attract and retain talent, employers are looking at offering contributions to people’s student loans,” Berliner said.
Companies that have offered their employees help with their student loans include Aetna, Penguin Random House, Nvidia and Staples.
Fidelity announced in May that 25 employers — including Hewlett Packard Enterprise, New York Air Brake and Millennium Trust — plan to implement its student debt employer contribution program, with 9,000 employees expected to enroll by the end of June. (Fidelity also offers a student debt benefit for its own employees.)
“Do a quick Google search and find the employers who are out there doing this,” Berliner said.
Most likely the company you’re interviewing with won’t offer the benefit, but that shouldn’t stop you from asking about it, Berliner said.
“In the course of the interview, there comes a point where the interviewer says, ‘Do you have any questions?'” Berliner said. “It would not be out of line to say: ‘I want to get your perspective on whether you think this a valuable benefit.'”
Source : CNBC
