Tech Incentive
Federal agencies used the student loan repayment benefit to recruit IT managers in particular.
Federal employees benefited more from student loan repayment programs in 2009, according to a new report by the Office of Personnel Management.
Overall, 36 federal agencies provided 8,454 employees a total of more than $61.8 million in student loan repayment benefits. Compared with 2008, this represents a 23 percent increase in the number of employees receiving benefits and a 20 percent increase in agencies' overall financial investment in the program, OPM found. The average loan repayment benefit was $7,317.
Information technology management was one of the top fields federal agencies recruited for using the student loan repayment incentives. For example, 163 IT management employees received the benefits, representing 1.9 percent of overall recipients. The Justice, Defense and State departments, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Government Accountability Office made the greatest use of the program, OPM found.
Wired Workplace is a daily look at issues facing the federal information technology workforce. It is written by former Government Executive reporter Brittany Ballenstedt and published on Nextgov.com. Click here to read the latest entries.
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