Student Loan Authority Increase Signed

President Bush has signed into law (P.L. 108-123) legislation increasing the maximum amounts that agencies can reimburse their employees to pay off student loans. The annual maximum rises from $6,000 to $10,000 while the lifetime maximum rises from $40,000 to $60,000. Meanwhile, the Office of Personnel Management has told agencies to report to it on their use of the authority, which is designed as a recruiting and retention tool. The most recent report, covering fiscal 2002, found that only 690 employees across the government, most of them working for the State Department or General Accounting Office, received payments and that the annual amount averaged about $4,600. Separate legislation that has cleared the Senate (S-589) and that is pending in the House would increase the maximum lifetime student loan repayment benefit for employees in certain national security-related fields to $80,000