Today’s college students are graduating with large amounts of educational debt. It’s one of today’s largest factors in financial wellness. And it’s killing productivity at every level of the workforce. Get the full story on how educational debt is affecting your workforce, and strategies to respond.

1. WHY COLLEGE TUITION IS
AN EMPLOYER PROBLEM

2. Today’s college students are graduating with
an average of $37,0001
in debt.
The collective tally grows at nearly $3,000
every second 2
. It’s one of today’s largest
factors in financial wellness. And it’s killing
productivity at every level of the workforce.
FINANCIAL WELLNESS
AT RISK
70% of managers say personal financial challenges impact employee performance3
1 “Student Debt Is About to Set Another Record, But the Picture Isn’t All Bad,” Josh Mitchell, WSJ.com, May 2, 2106
2 “Watch America’s student-loan debt grow $2,726 every second,” Jillian Berman, Marketwatch.com, January 30, 2016
3 Financial Wellness in the Workplace, SHRM, May 2014

3. Employees can’t focus at work because of debt. The future benefits of a college degree (higher pay, lower
unemployment) fuel parents’ race to afford tuition, leading working mothers and fathers to spend hours and hours
trying to cobble together a financial plan for their children.
LOSS OF WORK HOURS

4. LOSS OF COMPANY LOYALTY
New graduates are entering the workforce with crushing payments that are gobbling
up starting salaries. As a result, employees are job hopping and foregoing specialized
fields (that employers need) in order to pay off debts they took out years earlier4
.
4 “Generating Interest; College Debt’s Toll on American Workers,” EdAssist®
, 2016

5. The number of people over age 60 with
student debt has exploded, growing 300%
from 2005 to 20155
— faster than for any
other age group. As a result, people can’t
retire because of debt. Just as Millennials may
choose their first job based on income rather
than passion, established boomers may linger
in a position for the cash flow, rather than a
genuine commitment to the job.
LOSS OF
ENGAGEMENT
5 “Baby boomers and student debt — the problem no one is talking about,” Jillian Berman, Marketwatch.com, January 10, 2017

6. What no one ever talks about is...why? Why do people take on so much debt? The answer is because they don’t see
any alternatives. College is the goal, and loan rules are notoriously complex. The result is people blindly assembling
loans from multiple private providers without fully considering the future payments and long-term costs.
Yet three-quarters of people paying educational debt call it a focal point of their lives, impacting them every single day4
.
45%
have no idea what interest
rate they’re paying
39%
have three or more
outstanding loans
LOAN REPAYMENT IS THE FOCAL POINT
4 “Generating Interest; College Debt’s Toll on American Workers,” EdAssist®
, 2016

7. WHAT’S THE ANSWER?
Productivity is suffering. Today’s working parents need
facts about wise loan decisions and how to borrow; today’s
indebted need guidance on consolidating debt and making
payments manageable; today’s young parents need advice
on how to save to be ready for tomorrow’s tuition.
Download our eBook to learn more.

8. Contact us to learn more.
800.453.9383 | clientservices@brighthorizons.com
brighthorizons.com/solutionsatwork | Follow us @BHatWork
© 2017 Bright Horizons Family Solutions LLC. All Rights Reserved. 20801.1703.1
GET THE FULL STORY
To learn more about how college debt is
killing productivity, download our eBook.