20 companies that help employees pay off student loans

Nearly one in four millennial workers born between 1982 and 1996 change their jobs each year, according to a recent Gallup report. What’s more, 60 percent say they are open to a different job opportunity. This is bad news for companies, as some sources estimate that losing just one employee costs anywhere from 2 percent of the employee’s salary to more than $1 million.

These 20 companies offer generous student-debt related benefits to help employees pay off student loans;

AETNA

Healthcare company Aetna offers its employees a student loan repayment program that provides matching student loan repayment assistance. Employees must have already completed eligible degrees to qualify.

Aetna also offers an employee tuition assistance program, which covers a portion of tuition and registration for a college course.

BP3 GLOBAL

Austin-based software and services company BP3 — with help from the company Student Loan Genius — matches payments made by employees up to $100 per month to their student loan balances. Additionally, participating employees receive advice from a “Genius Advisor” on how to best pay down debt.

CHEGG

Chegg, which boasts a student-first connected learning platform of the same name, offers full- and part-time employees up to $1,000 annually to help repay their student loans. The plan does not impose a total cap on how much one employee can receive.

CHOWNOW

Online food ordering system and marketing company ChowNow announced plans to establish a student loan repayment program late in 2015. The company contributes up to $1,000 per year to outstanding loans for recently graduated employees.

COMMONBOND

Like ChowNow, marketplace lending platform company CommonBond announced a new student loan repayment benefit in late 2015. The company offers each employee up to $100 every month — $1,200 each year — to help pay down their loans. The benefit lasts until the loan is fully paid off.

In a press release, CommonBond CEO and Co-Founder David Klein said half of CommonBond employees were paying off student loans at the time of the benefit’s introduction.

CONNELLY PARTNERS

Boston-based advertising agency Connelly Partners doesn’t just produce creative work, it also offers its employees a creative way to pay off student loans. The agency pays employees up to $100 per month in matching funds to help pay down their student debt. In addition, new hires receive a $1,000 payment as a signing bonus, which is paid toward their loans after six months of employment.

Connelly Partners rewards loyal employees by paying $1,000 toward their loan principal after five years on the job.

CREDIT SUISSE

Financial services company Credit Suisse offers its employees the opportunity to refinance their loans through SoFi. Those who take advantage of the offer will receive a .25-percent discount reduction on their loan rate.

The offering might not be as attractive as the lump-sum payments offered by other employers, but receiving an additional discount in addition to refinancing to a lower rate could save employees thousands of dollars over a 10-year period.

FIDELITY INVESTMENTS

Fidelity offers its employees the Step Ahead Student Loan Assistance program to help decrease student debt. Step Ahead pays $2,000 per year directly to the companies through which employees have student loans. The program tops off at $10,000.

Fidelity also offers its employees a tuition reimbursement program.

FIRST REPUBLIC

First Republic Bank introduced its Student Loan Repayment Assistance program in 2016. The program works on a tier structure that pays $100 per month during the first year of program enrollment, $150 per month during the second year and $200 per month thereafter until the debt is paid.

The program is available to all employees who work a minimum of 20 hours per week, as well as employees who have taken out educational loans on behalf of their children.

GRADIFI

The Gradifi mission is to provide employers with the ability to make contributions to their employees’ student loans to help them get out of debt faster. It’s only natural, then, that the company would offer its employees a stellar student loan repayment plan.

Acquired by First Republic Bank in December 2016, Gradifi offers the same Student Loan Paydown Plan. The program is open to all employees who work at least 20 hours per week. The business contributes as long as the employee works at the company.

Many other companies included on this list — including Penguin Random House, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Powertex Group — have partnered with Gradifi to offer their student loan repayment benefits.

KRONOS

Workforce solutions provider Kronos offers student loan repayment assistance up to $500 a year to help “Kronites” pay off their student loan debt faster. The company also offers continued learning tuition reimbursement for approved educational courses.

LENDEDU

Student loan and student loan refinancing marketplace LendEDU offers its employees $200 per month — $2,400 per year — to help pay student debt. The benefit is open to all employees and can be applied to both principal and interest.

NATIXIS GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT

Global asset management company Natixis offers its employees $1,000 annually to help pay federal or private student loans. A payment of $83.33 is paid directly to the student loan provider each month. The benefit lasts for up to the life of the loan or a maximum of $10,000 over a 10-year period.

NVIDIA

Visual computing technologies company Nvidia offers employees who have graduated within the past three years the ability to apply for reimbursement of up to $6,000 per year to help pay down their student debt. Employees must work at Nvidia for three months prior to application, and they must work atOne of the world’s top publishers, Penguin Random House offers financial assistance to help employees reduce student debt. The program pays up to $1,200 a year for up to seven and a half years. The program caps at $9,000.

To be eligible, employees must have worked full time with the company for at least one year.

POWERTEX GROUP

Wisconsin-based design company Powertex Group pays up to $1,200 per year in student loan reimbursement funds. As many as one in four Powertex employees is expected to take advantage of the program.

Check Out: This is What Happens When You Default on Your Student Loans

PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS

Associate and senior associate employees at PricewaterhouseCoopers can take advantage of the company’s Student Loan Paydown program, which offers $1,200 a year up to six years. The global accounting and consulting firm claims its program can help reduce student debt and interest obligation by as much as $10,000 and shorten the loan payoff period by as many as three years.

SOFI

Finance company SoFi contributes $200 per month to help its employees pay off their student loans. The company’s plan does not impose any yearly caps on what its employees can receive.

STAPLES

Staples is one of the first large retail chains to offer student loan repayment as an employee perk. The program offers $100 per month for three years up to $3,600.

As of late 2016, the company benefit only applied to a select group of “top performers” who had been nominated by leadership, as well as new hires for the company’s business-to-business sales team. However, Staples said it will offer the benefit to additional groups in the future.

TUITION.IO

Student loan repayment is just one of many innovative employee benefits offered by Tuition.io, a company that offers employers the ability to help pay down employees’ student debt. Tuition.io has not publicly shared the details of its student debt relief benefit; however, it is likely similar to those offered by companies Chegg and ChowNow, as both are clients of the company.