The Office of Personnel Management has told agencies that
they should expand their annual reports–due December 31–on
their use of student loan repayment authority to include
issues beyond simple measures of how many payments they
make to their employees and how much money is involved.
OPM told agencies that “because of the considerable
interest
in agencies’ use of the student loan repayment incentive”–
OPM didn’t say so, but some of that interest comes from
Congress–they should address issues such as:
Has the agency’s use of the program improved your
recruitment and retention efforts? If so, how? (Please
provide specific data and examples, if available.)
To what extent have agencies developed metrics for
measuring the effectiveness of their student loan
repayment program?
To what extent have components or bureaus (or the
department or agency as a whole) developed a business
case for the use of available funds to meet recruitment
and retention needs through the use of student loan
repayments?
What type of assistance have they requested from OPM in
implementing their plan and administering their student
loan repayment program? What is the major impediment,
if any, to fully implementing a student loan repayment
program in the agency?
The results of those answers could help determine the
future direction of the program, which despite years of
emphasis is still relatively little used in agencies as
a recruiting and retention tool. Fewer than 2100 employees
received such payments in 2003, totaling about $9.1 million.