The loneliest number

One federal employee got help from Uncle Sam last year to pay back student loans. The lucky human resources specialist at the Health and Human Services Department is the only one of thousands of federal employees saddled with college debt who benefited from the government's new student loan repayment program in fiscal 2001. The HR specialist got $6,000, the highest annual amount available to federal workers as a recruitment or retention incentive under the program. No one else got anything, according to a letter that Office of Personnel Management Director Kay Coles James sent to Congress on March 29. "Although we are somewhat disappointed with the results, we anticipate a significant increase in the use of the student loan repayment authority in fiscal 2002," James said. "The student loan repayment program could be a powerful tool if agencies demonstrate leadership and fully utilize this flexibility to recruit and retain highly qualified employees." The opening months of fiscal 2002 saw seven more federal employees get student loan repayments: Four engineers and a scientist at the Energy Department, an administrative officer at the General Services Administration and a management analyst at NASA. The student loan repayment program has been slow to get off the ground. Congress originally authorized agencies to pay back employees' student loans as a recruitment and retention tool in a 1990 law. OPM, consumed with downsizing during the 1990s, didn't launch the loan repayment program until Aug. 30, 2001, after Congress included the program in the 2001 Defense Authorization Act. On Aug. 30, there was only one month left in fiscal 2001. The program is further hindered by a legal requirement that agencies first create an extensive student loan repayment plan before offering the benefit to anyone. Fewer than half of the 53 agencies that reported to OPM on the student loan repayment program had a plan in place or expected to have a plan in place in the near future. That means many employees shouldn't hold their breath for student loan repayments. The agency plans must describe:

• Which officials will be allowed to offer and approve repayments.
• When repayments will be allowed.
• What criteria should be used to decide who gets repayments.
• The procedures for making repayments.
• A system for ensuring equitable and fair distribution of repayments.
• The service requirements (how many years an employee must serve in return for the repayments) and what to do if someone doesn't complete the required service.
• Documentation and reporting requirements.