How LTV Helps Its US Employees Pay Off Their Student Debt

To help alleviate the burden of student loans for our team members, the Lifetime Value (LTV) Company partners with a financial wellness company to provide financial education and student loan repayment assistance to all eligible US employees. This benefit–offered by very few employers—can go a long way toward helping offset student debt, especially with COVID-related forbearance of federal student loan payments and zero interest rates currently scheduled to end on August 31, 2022.

As US higher education costs continue to rise, working professionals often find themselves saddled with student debt for years after they earn their degrees. According to the Education Data Initiative, the average federal student loan debt balance is nearly $38,000, and for employees with loans, paying these loans back can be a significant financial burden.

Here’s a quick overview of how this program works and how it has positively impacted the financial well-being of LTV employees.

How does LTV’s student loan repayment assistance benefit work?

This financial wellness perk is available to all employees located in the United States. Through our student loan repayment assistance program, LTV contributes a fixed amount toward each eligible employee’s loan balance, as long as the employee makes their minimum monthly payments.

“Employees also have the option to refinance their loans through the platform,” said Stefani Azzariti, HR Generalist at LTV. “The platform provides a guide to them on their best refinancing options based on the type of loan and interest rates.”

Employees can sign up any time through LTV’s financial wellness platform and enter their loan service provider information. After an employee reaches their eligibility date, LTV will begin contributing monthly payments to their loans.

The easy-to-use platform outlines an employee’s loans, loan statuses, and interest rates. This makes it easy for employees to have everything they need to know about their student loans in one place. The platform’s dashboard will display LTV’s monthly contributions and the updated total of an employee’s student loan debt.

“[The program] reduces the stress our employees feel because they don’t have to remember to go into the platform each month,” said Azzariti. “They just set up their account and LTV does the rest!”

As a newer LTV employee, how does the eligibility waiting period work?

Employees can sign up for the platform as soon as they’re hired. Once the employee has been with LTV for three months, they’ll be eligible to begin receiving company contributions on or before the 27th of the following month.

For instance, if a new hire’s start date was February 3, their eligibility date would be May 3, and LTV would begin making contributions to that employee’s loans starting on or before June 27.

Is there a deadline to enroll in the student loan repayment assistance program?

No, there is no deadline to enroll in LTV’s student loan repayment assistance program. Employees can enroll at any time during their tenure with the company. Those who want to start receiving company contributions as early as possible can sign up and provide their loan information right when they start, letting them receive payments shortly after their three-month eligibility period.

What if I don’t have student loans?

Employees without student loans can still leverage the unique tools from LTV’s partnership with this robust financial wellness platform. A few tools available on the platform are:

• Advice and professional insights to help save money.
• A refinancing marketplace with access to multiple national lenders.
• Financial counseling services.

What do LTV employees think of the student loan repayment assistance program?

LTV is proud to be one of the 8% of US employers that offer contributions to employee student loans. LTV employees also appreciate the student loan repayment assistance program thanks to its ease of use and helpful resources that even those without student loans can utilize.

“Each month that I make a payment it sends me an email to let me know how many days it has taken off my loan time,” said Taylor Weibert, Affiliate Manager at LTV. “It is just a nice little reminder that I am just a little bit closer to being free from my student loan debt.”

“It helped me with my monthly payments and gets me closer to being debt-free,” said Engineering Manager MinLing Zhao, another LTV employee who uses the program.

To learn more about LTV’s robust employee benefits and open jobs, visit ltvco.com/careers.