Student Loan Program: Numbers Up, Amounts Down

Federal agencies in 2009 continued the trend toward greater use of the student loan reimbursement program as an employee recruiting and retention tool, although the average value of a loan reimbursement payment slipped slightly, from about $7,500 to about $7,300. Agencies may make payments of up to $10,000 a year, $60,000, lifetime, and made such payments to nearly 8,500 employees in 2009, up from about 6,900 in 2008, with the total value increasing by about $10 million to $61.8 million. In 2002, in contrast, only 690 payments were made totaling $3.2 million.