With one email, the federal government recently wiped out student loan balances for nearly 153,000 borrowers.
As NPR reported, the loan forgiveness was extended to those who have borrowed $12,000 or less, have been paying off student loans for at least 10 years, and are enrolled in the Biden administration’s SAVE Plan.
Launched in August 2023, the SAVE Plan is an income-driven repayment plan that, according to the White House, calculates payments based on borrowers’ income and family size, as opposed to their loan balance, and forgives remaining balances after a certain number of years.
The plan was designed to cut many borrowers’ monthly payments down to zero, while saving others as much as $1,000 per year, according to the Biden administration, which says that SAVE will “prevent balances from growing because of unpaid interest, and will get more borrowers closer to forgiveness faster.”
New research findings from MissionSquare Research Institute suggest that many public sector workers would welcome some help getting closer to student loan forgiveness.
In a new report, MissionSquare provides an analysis of student loan debt levels among state and local government public service positions, identifying levels of student loan debt associated with specific state and local government jobs that deliver essential public services in communities across the nation, according to a statement highlighting a few key findings.
For example, the average student loan debt across the public service careers and programs that MissionSquare assessed was $12,785 for associate degree holders, $23,052 for those with a bachelor’s degree, $37,598 among master’s degree holders, and $79,404 for individuals with doctoral degrees.
In the aforementioned statement, MissionSquare references the federal government’s efforts to extend student debt relief, noting that initiatives such as the SAVE Plan have been launched at a time when state and local government agencies “continue to face problems attracting and keeping workers.” Meanwhile, MissionSquare research from 2023 found 46% of state and local government employees with student loan debt saying they were “extremely” or “very” worried about paying back those loans.
Such findings may help agencies identify ways to ease the burden of student loan debt for the public sector workforce, and perhaps help solve some recruitment challenges in the process, said Zhikun Liu, vice president and head of retirement research at MissionSquare Research Institute.
“We embarked on this research to gain a deeper understanding of the student debt challenges confronting the state and local government workforce, particularly for positions that are hard to fill,” said Liu, in a statement.
“Now, policymakers and employers have crucial data about the extent of the issue, enabling them to make informed decisions regarding potential solutions such as student loan forgiveness, tuition assistance, degree requirements or recruitment strategies,” Liu continued.
“Ultimately, implementing student loan programs for the public workforce could effectively address persistent challenges in worker recruitment and retention, which are placing a burden on many jurisdictions, while simultaneously easing employee stress and financial burdens.”
26 February 2024
Category
HR News Article