Tuition.io offers employers new weapons in the student loan war

Tuition.io, a provider of student loan benefits, is launching two new features designed to help employers tackle their student loan debt.

The company updates its paid vacation conversion tool, which allows employees to use their paid vacation against their student debt. They are also setting up a public service loan remission tool.

“Most HR and benefits executives believe that helping with student loan repayments only contributes to their employees’ student debt,” said Scott Thompson, CEO of Tuition.io. “But almost all of our new clients are implementing the benefits of student loans in new and innovative ways.”

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The benefits of the PTO swap have led to increased demand during COVID-19, Thompson says. Since employees cannot go on vacation, they look for opportunities to use these benefits in another way.

Typically, the PTO comes with a “use it or lose it” clause, which can be very frustrating for employees, Thompson says. Since employers have already allocated these funds, they would not lose out if they had to reallocate those PTO dollars to another employee benefit.

A PTO swap offer benefits both employees and employers: Employees have the obvious benefit of reducing their debt balances, while companies can usually offer the program on a pre-tax basis. Tuition.io estimates that a worker converting 10 hours of PTO, at a rate of $ 50 per hour and after factoring in taxes, would be able to devote $ 300 to their student loan balance.

Tuition.io previously offered a PTO swap benefit to Montefiore St. Luc’s Hospital Cornwall. This updated version provides employer customers with a simplified one-stop-shop where employees can view the total number of PTO hours, set the number of hours they want to convert, and view the payment made for their student loans.

Employers will be able to customize their own plans, which will allow them to cap the number of PTO hours employees can allocate for student debt payment, so they don’t use all of their free time.

“There was a lot of back and forth between us and the employer [previously]Thompson says. “Now all round trips are automated. The employee has a place to go, he can see what the available PTO balance is, he can see what the design of the plan is and what the benefits are basically. “

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These same features played a role in Tuition.io’s public service loan forgiveness tool, which eliminates the remainder of an employee’s student debt tax-free after 120 months of payments.

Canceling public service loans can provide major relief to employees struggling with the burden of student debt. However, it is not always implemented successfully, as common mistakes can lead to an employee being dismissed for forgiveness.

From 2017 to 2020, just over 3,200 borrowers saw their loans canceled under the PSLF, according to a Tuition.io study. About 97% of borrowers are turned down due to preventable issues including not making enough payments, missing information on their applications, and submitting loans that are not eligible for PSLF. With an employer-provided benefit to guide them, more employees can apply and qualify for the PSLF.

Tuition.io provides employees with a dashboard that shows their various loans and balances as well as the number of payments they have made so far. There will also be a section with a collection of all the forms they will need to fill out to apply for the PSLF and automatic annual reminders. Employees will also have access to decision-making tools and student loan advisors.

“Even though the economy is still a bit uncertain and unstable, we have a lot of conversations with big employers who need to find a way to help [their] employees, ”says Thompson. “These two [programs] are cost neutral and offer huge benefits. “