Before January 1st of each year, agencies must submit a written report to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on their use of the Federal student loan repayment program for the previous fiscal year. We are requesting your fiscal year 2002 report by December 31, 2002. Agencies who have not made use of this incentive should submit a negative report.

The Federal student loan repayment program permits agencies to repay certain Federally insured student loans in order to recruit or retain highly qualified personnel. The annual reporting requirement is established by law (5 U.S.C. 5379(h)(1)) and OPM regulations (5 CFR 537.110(b)). Each report must contain the following data for fiscal year 2002 (October 1, 2001, through September 30, 2002):

1. The number of Federal employees who received student loan repayment benefits;
2. The job classifications of the recipients; and
3. The total dollar amount of student loan repayment benefits issued by your agency or department.

Agency reports must cover an entire department or independent agency. Data from your agency components or bureaus must be consolidated before forwarding to OPM.

In addition, because of the considerable interest in agencies' use of the student loan repayment incentive, we request that you provide answers to the following questions:

• Does your agency use the student loan repayment program primarily as a recruitment tool, a retention tool, or both?
• Has your agency's use of the program improved your recruitment and retention efforts?
• How has your agency publicized the student loan repayment incentive (e.g., on vacancy announcements, through employee newsletters, etc.)?
• What are the primary barriers to using the student loan repayment incentive effectively?
• What changes would you recommend in the Federal student loan repayment program to make it more effective?
• Do you find the information provided on OPM's Web site useful? What improvements would you recommend?

You may also submit your reports by fax at (202) 606-0824 or by email at payleave@opm.gov.

If you have any questions, please contact OPM's Pay and Leave Administration Division at (202) 606-2858.