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 during the previous fiscal year. We request your fiscal year 2004 report by December 31, 2004. If your agency has not made use of the student loan repayment program during fiscal year 2004, please submit a negative report and indicate whether your agency has implemented or is in the process of implementing a student loan repayment plan.

The Federal student loan repayment program permits agencies to repay certain Federally insured student loans 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 2004 (October 1, 2003, through September 30, 2004):

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

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:

• Has your agency's use of the program improved your recruitment and retention efforts? If so, how? (Please provide specific data and examples, if available.)
• To what extent have you developed metrics for measuring the effectiveness of your student loan repayment program?
• To what extent have components or bureaus (or the department or agency as a whole) developed a business case for the use of available funds to meet recruitment and retention needs through the use of student loan repayments?
• What type of assistance have you requested from OPM in implementing your agency plan and administering your student loan repayment program?
• What is the major impediment, if any, to fully implementing a student loan repayment program in your agency?

Each report must cover an entire department or independent agency. Therefore, departments must consolidate information from components or bureaus before forwarding a report to OPM.

Please send your report to:

Office of Personnel Management
Division for Strategic Human Resources Policy
Center for Pay and Performance Policy
1900 E Street NW., Room 7H31
Washington, DC 20415-8200
Attn: Gene Holson

You may also submit your reports by fax at (202) 606-0824 or by email at pay-performance-policy@opm.gov. To ensure that we receive your report on time, we ask that agencies submitting a report by standard mail also send an electronic copy. Please include in your report a point of contact, phone number, and email address.

If you have any questions regarding this request, please contact Gene Holson of OPM's Pay and Leave Administration Group at (202) 606-2858.

cc: Human Resources Directors