After graduating from college, Augie Kennady was saddled with nearly $90,000 in student loan debt.
If he stuck to his loan servicer’s payment plan, he’d be shelling out the equivalent of a high car payment every month for 25 years. But after joining educational services company Chegg in 2015 as a customer service representative, Kennady started participating in the Santa Clara, Calif., company’s student loan repayment program.
This employee benefit — which is offered by a small but growing number of companies — meant that Chegg contributed $23,000 toward the principal of Kennady’s loan, allowing him to knock off valuable time from his repayments. With that help, Kennady redirected some of his income toward a down payment for a house, and it made him feel more loyal to the company.
