Summer

One reason employers aren’t hearing from their employees that they need help with their student loan debt? Nearly half aren’t paying their debt down at the moment, according to a The New York Times piece from Stacy Cowley yesterday. Almost 19 million student loan borrowers have not resumed payments on federal loans following a years-long pause, leaving their accounts delinquent, in default or still on pause, according to the latest Education Department data, and “that reality, along with court decisions that regularly upend the rules, has complicated the government’s efforts to restart its system for collecting the $1.6 trillion it is owed.” So what happens when the on-ramp period to resuming payments ends, and borrowers will have to face penalties for non-payment? Certainly a wave of financial anxiety for millions of Americans, but also an opportunity for employers to step up. Read the full piece, linked in comments, and let us know what you think is coming down the pike for student loan borrowers. https://lnkd.in/eQ9xkQBK

Breaking news: key components of the SAVE plan have been restored. For now, the Biden administration can move forward with lowering some monthly student loan payments to 5% of borrowers’ discretionary income. However, student debt forgiveness under the SAVE plan is paused due to ongoing legal challenges. As these policy updates unfold, Summer is committed to serving our partners and members. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/e-zQC5Dt

Federal judges in Kansas and Missouri have issued orders halting key parts of President Biden's SAVE Plan, which aimed to reduce student loan payments and expedite forgiveness. The rulings prevent the Department of Education from lowering monthly payments from 10% to 5% of discretionary income and from issuing further loan forgiveness. However, borrowers can still enroll in SAVE, and those already benefiting from the plan will not see changes to their current status. Borrowers should expect their monthly payment amounts to remain the same for now. As these developments unfold, Summer is committed to keeping borrowers and employers informed and supported every step of the way. Read more about this latest development: https://lnkd.in/e8ijKcuN

Did you know that most voluntary benefits only see 3-5% employee engagement? 🤯 HR teams put so much time, budget and thought into creating impactful benefits packages. But let's face it— the generic benefits flyer isn't cutting it anymore. Summer CEO Will Sealy spoke with WorkLife's Cloey Callahan about how HR teams are increasingly adopting a marketing mindset to maximize benefits program engagement. By leveraging multi-touch campaigns, including video content 📽 , social media engagement 🌟 and personalized outreach 🎯, HR teams can boost benefits adoption rates. At Summer, we're proud to help HR leaders implement these best practices, contributing to 10x employee engagement for our solutions. Check out the full article below to learn more.

☀ It's officially our favorite season! ☀ Summer partners with HR teams to boost hiring and retention efforts by helping employees save an average of $278 a month on their student loans and a total of $1.7 billion in savings. We've seen firsthand how alleviating student debt stress transforms lives. Recently, we helped an employee secure $230,000 in loan forgiveness, saving her home from potential foreclosure. "After 20 years of making payments, $230,000 was forgiven. This changed my life because I will be able to make my house payments and not risk foreclosure." This is why we do what we do. Ready to make a splash this summer? Send us a DM to learn more!

It was great meeting so many fantastic HR leaders from Macy's, Foot Locker, Easterseals, Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP, Atlanta Braves, PIM Brands, Antares Capital LP, Tyson Foods, and more, as part of the SHRM Conference in Chicago this week. It’s clear that many HR leaders are looking for strategic recruiting & retention solutions that can tackle low employee engagement (“Quiet Quitting”) and high employee churn (“The Great Resignation”). Summer is helping employers meet the moment with a proven solution that drives engagement with clear, impactful results. Special thanks to Mike Clementi and Frank Congiu for organizing!

🔥 Big news! Hurley Medical Center is the latest employer to partner with Summer and introduce student loan and college cost benefits to its employee base! Hurley Medical Center, a leading teaching hospital in Flint, Michigan, is working with Summer to make it easier for its employees to enroll in programs like Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Income-Driven Repayment as benefit at no cost to employees. The impact? A big boost in employees’ overall financial wellness, big savings on their monthly payments (and even eventual forgiveness for those eligible), and support for Hurley’s talent attraction & retention initiatives. Learn more in the release linked in comments, or reach out to Summer today.

📈 The cost of education is skyrocketing, with federal student loan interest rates hitting 6.5% — the highest they've been in 16 years. This surge in student loan costs, coupled with tuition outpacing inflation, is making higher education less affordable for your employees and their families. 🤝 Employers can play a crucial role in attracting and retaining top talent by offering solutions, like college savings and student loan assistance tools, that help alleviate the financial burden of higher education for their employees and their families. For more information, read the article linked in the comments.

I had the pleasure of speaking at the Financial Health Network’s #EMERGE24 Innovator Showcase about Summer: 1️⃣ State cuts to higher ed budgets over the last 20 years means that skyrocketing college costs have been pushed to students and families 📈 2️⃣ Consequently student debt has tripled to $1.7 trillion (bigger than Australia’s entire economy) 📈 3️⃣ Most college grads (70%) are leaving campus with over $40k of debt 🎓🫣 4️⃣ 95% of parents expect to cover at least half of their child’s college fund and we’re now seeing $400k undergrad degrees (we’ll see $600k degrees in next 5-10 years 🤢) 5️⃣ Most employers require (or expect) employees to apply with college degrees, but college costs have far outpaced salary increases — putting a burden on Gen Z employees *and* their parents 🥵 6️⃣ Meanwhile, most employers are still struggling with high employee churn (“The Great Resignation” continues), low employee engagement (“Quit Quitting”), and Boomers retiring (what I’m hearing HR leaders call “The Silver Tsunami”) — impacting performance and substantially increasing HR costs ❌ 7️⃣ Meanwhile, HR leaders are also seeing that young people care a lot less about the company’s 401(k) matching plan when they have to make $6k-$12k per year in student loan payments, and parents’ mental health is on the decline (guess what: fears around covering college costs is a big driver💡) 8️⃣ Thankfully Summer is connecting all the dots, helping HR leaders implement a low-cost, high-impact recruiting & retention initiative that can be implemented in under a week — and with guaranteed results 👊💥 9️⃣ We are helping parents create a college fund plan, enrolling them into tax-advantaged 529 Saving Plans, predicting how much they have to save 1-18 years out from enrollment, and helping them navigate the dreaded FAFSA application process 👏 🔟 We are also helping employees reduce their student debt load by $40,000 on average — in both the private and public sector — since 70% of all U.S. employees now qualify for loan forgiveness under the new SAVE Plan (and Public Service Loan Forgiveness for non-profit and government employers) 🙏 ➡️ The results? Your employees will be financially healthier, happier, more engaged and also more productive — creating an immediate ROI by reducing employee turnover costs by 20% on average. That’s a win-win 💯 Interested in learning more? DM me, and our team can give you a demo so you can see how we’ve generated $1.7 billion of savings across the 1,000+ employers we now support. 📥 Special thanks to Jennifer Tescher, Matthew Bahl, Benjamin Mahnkey, and Mindy Field, and the other innovators!

We're thrilled to announce that Jemila Stewart (She/Her) has joined Summer as our new Vice President of Broker Relations! 👏 Jemila brings a wealth of experience in fostering partnerships and developing strategies to support growth and advancement. She has a proven track record of unlocking new business opportunities, driving transformative changes, and strengthening client engagement for long-term and sustainable organizational success. "I'm excited to join the Summer team to assist millions of Americans in navigating the complexities of student loan debt and college costs. I look forward to collaborating with benefit brokers and consultants to enhance employee satisfaction and well-being, while helping employers achieve their strategic objectives."