Hundreds of Companies Are Now Paying Off Their Employees' Student Loans

CNBC News reports that student loan assistance, which started as a niche offering by a handful of companies, is finding its way into the mainstream menu of workplace benefits. Earlier in the year, Fidelity Investments started to offer companies a way to contribute to their workers' education debt. Since then, over two dozen companies have signed up, a number that is expected to double by year's end. Asha Srikantiah, vice president of workplace emerging products at Fidelity, said, "We're seeing so many more people who have debt and who are overwhelmed by that." Indeed, seven in 10 college graduates have student loan debt, with the average person leaving campus $30,000 in arrears. Among the companies offering their employees student loan assistance are Millennium Trust Co., New York Air Brake, and Options Clearing Corp.