Driving meaningful impact with student loan benefits

The services Children’s Service Center provides are “very, very involved jobs,” says Katy Foose, Human Resources Specialist at CSC. “[Our workforce] is working with people and helping them meet their needs, so we want to make sure that our employees are getting their needs met as well.”

CSC’s benefits program includes medical coverage, EAPs, and tuition reimbursement programs. And because the majority of professional roles at CSC require at least a college degree, benefits to support employees with student debt are a natural fit for the organization.

“We do find that the majority of our employees are experiencing student debt in some capacity,” Katy says. “We were already offering repayment contributions through another vendor, but it ceased operations last year. This is a benefit that employees really value, so we needed to pivot quickly — and that’s what led us to Candidly.”

Katy says that the organization’s Student Loan Employer Contribution benefit has been especially appreciated amid the end of the federal student loan payment moratorium. “Nobody’s jumping for joy about resuming repayment, but it’s nice to know that we’re continuing to help employees knock that debt down now that they’re back to making monthly payments.”

CSC also leans on Candidly to help employees pursue Public Service Loan Forgiveness. “As a nonprofit, our full-time employees can qualify for PSLF. It’s a really special thing to be a part of,” Katy says. “We work really hard to earn those degrees, but it’s also really hard to pay that debt down — so once you get to that point that it’s forgiven, that’s so worth celebrating. And with Candidly, we can still offer other tools to employees who are on track to finish paying off their debt before they would qualify for PSLF.”

CSC’s student loan benefit offerings will play a critical role as the organization continues to grow in 2025 and beyond, says Katy. “A challenge that we face is that employee salaries are controlled by rates set by managed care companies, so that’s part of why our robust benefits package is a big part of what attracts employees and motivates them to learn and grow with us throughout their career journeys.”

“Pretty much everybody coming through our doors is impacted by student loan debt in some way. Implementing Candidly has demonstrated just how important this benefit is to our employees, and how important offering student loan support is to our retention and recruitment strategy.”