College Debt in America: The Case for Tuition & Loan Repayment Benefits

Initial Findings—Guardian’s 6th Annual Workplace Benefits Study (2018)

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Few financial topics have been as well-publicized lately as the American college debt crisis. New headline-grabbing statistics appear in the media with increasing regularity.

Guardian’s newest financial wellness study , College Debt in America: The Case for Tuition & Loan Repayment Benefits, contains the first set of findings from Guardian’s 6th Annual Workplace Benefits Study. The report examines how $1.5 trillion dollars of college debt in America is negatively impacting workforce financial confidence, productivity and workforce stress. It addresses trends such as the growth of debt across generations, including baby boomer parents who over-extended themselves financially to help fund their children’s college education, the growing demand among Millennials for benefits to assist in paying off student loans and saving for their children’s future college education, and how more employers are exploring ways to offer these benefits to attract and retain talent in today’s tight labor market.

Highlights from Guardian’s report:*

• 7 in 10 of working adults with college debt rate their finances as the major source of stress compared to those without college debt.

• Fewer workers are feeling confident about planning and funding for their children’s college savings.

• Less than 10% of all workers have access to college savings or debt-related benefits plans.

• More than 70% of employers say improving their employee’s financial wellness is a top benefits objective – up 15% since 2014.

Download the report