Federal agencies spend millions of dollars each year to repay student loans for desirable employees joining the federal workforce, and the Office of Personnel Management called on agencies Feb. 27 to start collecting data on the number of employees that received such payments and for how much in 2019.

“We also invite you to share any additional information regarding best practices, lessons learned, program effectiveness, or metrics used to measure program success,” OPM Director Dale Cabaniss wrote in a letter to agency human capital officers.

“We would also appreciate your input on how agencies can best establish and justify each business case, as well as how to address and resolve program impediments. Your agency may provide relevant details about your agency’s use of the student loan repayment authority as an effective recruitment or retention tool.”

In 2018, a total of 34 agencies spent approximately $74.9 million to repay the student loans of 10,206 feds. And while those numbers are an improvement over the last year, repayments across government still have yet to catch up to 2010 numbers, where 36 agencies spent a total of $85.7 million.

The cost of college has increased over that time as well, with the National Center for Education Statistics finding that college cost on-average over $18,000 in the 2010-2011 school year and more than $23,000 for 2016-2017.

Of the 34 federal agencies that participated in the 2018 student loan repayment program, the Department of Defense handed out the most dollars, covering nearly a quarter of all program recipients.

But OPM also wants to know why agencies don’t participate in the program to encourage recruitment and retention of employees, as individuals that receive such payments agree to work for the paying agency for at least three years.

Agencies have until March 31 to submit their data to OPM.

About Jessie Bur

Jessie Bur covers federal IT and management.

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