Washington, DC - The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) recently issued its latest report to Congress on federal agencies' use of student loan repayments as a recruitment and retention tool. The report focuses on fiscal year 2006 and shows the increased, and successful, use of the repayment program by a diverse group of agencies.

"OPM has a leadership role in assisting federal agencies to recruit, retain and develop the employees they need to meet their specific missions," said OPM Director Linda M. Springer. "We encourage agencies to implement effective human capital strategies to build successful, high-performing organizations, including use of the Student Loan Repayment Program."

Included in the report is information from 34 federal agencies which provided 5,755 employees with a total of nearly $36 million in student loan repayment benefits. Compared to FY 2005, this represents a 31 percent increase in the number of employees receiving student loan repayment benefits and a 28 percent increase in agencies' overall financial investment in this valuable incentive. Notably, more than half of the agencies included in the report either made student loan repayments in FY 2006 or have established a student loan repayment program for future use. The average loan repayment benefit was $6,245.

"OPM applauds the increased use of student loan repayments in FY 2006," said Springer. "We will continue to work with agencies to assist them in taking full advantage of this incentive, as well as other existing recruitment and retention tools, to attract and retain well-qualified, high-performing employees."

The report was prepared in response to the statutory requirement that OPM prepare, and submit annually to the Congress, information on agencies' use of student loan repayments.

Our mission is to ensure the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce. OPM supports U.S. agencies with personnel services and policy leadership including staffing tools, guidance on labor-management relations and programs to improve work force performance.