Differences by Agencies Continue

By: fedweek

As in the past, certain agencies accounted for the bulk of student loan reimbursements. The Justice Department paid out the most, 1,981, an 81 percent increase in the number of employees there receiving the benefit over the prior year. Traditional leaders Defense, State, SEC and GAO followed; among them those five departments and agencies accounted for all but 15 percent of the loan reimbursements. By occupation, the payments are most common among criminal investigators, attorneys, intelligence employees and GAO analysts. OPM said that as in the past, lack of funding is the largest impediment to greater use of the program, but that there are other barriers, including the tax liability to the recipient. Legislation is once again pending in Congress to make the payments tax-free.