Supporting Workplace Equity with Student Loan Assistance

DEI has been a hot topic in recent years. At its best, DEI strengthens teams, improves decision-making, and creates workplaces where people can do their best work. But there’s an important piece of the equation that often goes overlooked: student debt.

Understanding how the student loan burden affects different groups can help employers make strategic choices, like offering student loan assistance and 529 savings benefits, to strengthen both DEI efforts and business results.

What is DEI?

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace means creating environments and conditions that account for differing employee backgrounds and challenges, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to succeed.

It’s not about special treatment. Rather, it’s focused on removing barriers so every employee feels supported, valued, and able to contribute their best.

DEI is good for business

When organizations invest in inclusive and equitable environments, the benefits extend far beyond culture:

• Inclusive teams are 59% more innovative, drawing from a wider range of perspectives to get the most creative solutions.
• Diverse workplaces show a 37% stronger understanding of customer needs, helping businesses serve broader markets more effectively.
• That insight translates into a 70% higher likelihood of reaching new audiences and expanding into new segments.
• Ultimately, these advantages lead to 35% higher revenue when organizations are diverse and inclusive.

Clearly, investing in DEI is a smart business move. However, student debt can undermine these gains.

Student debt is an equity issue

Creating an inclusive workplace doesn’t stop at policies and culture. Financial wellbeing plays a major role in whether employees can truly thrive.

Student debt affects everyone who borrows, but factors like race, gender, sexuality, and disability shape how heavy that burden becomes.

• Race and Ethnicity. Borrowers of color are more likely to struggle with higher balances and slower repayment. In fact, Black borrowers take on $25k more student debt than average. Gaps in generational wealth mean non-white students often have to borrow to receive the same education and cannot lean as heavily on family finances to lighten the load. As a result, borrowers of color have the highest monthly payments of any group, perpetuating the cycle of debt.

• Gender. Women hold 66% of all student debt, leaving them disproportionately burdened long after they’ve graduated. Combined with persistent pay gaps (women make only 85% of what men make in equivalent positions), it takes an extra two years for women to pay back their loans — vital time their male counterparts are using to get ahead. On top of that, over half of transgender students take on student debt (well over the national average of all students) largely due to withheld support from family.

• Sexuality. Due to stigma, 4 in 10 people are denied financial help because of their sexual orientation. This lack of support causes those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, or asexual (LGBTQIA) to take out loans that are $6k more than the national average. Over time, those additional dollars and high interest rates increase long-term financial strain and leave less room for purchasing, saving, and investing.

• Disability. Students with disabilities often graduate with higher-than-average student debt due to the length of time enrolled and added expenses their peers don’t have to account for. Medical care, prescriptions, mobility aids, and adaptive technologies are expensive and students with disabilities tend to be enrolled for longer, inflating the tuition owed.

The issue isn’t a difference in effort or personal choices, but rather that access to resources and support is uneven. That imbalance follows many graduates straight into the workplace.

Boost DEI with student loan assistance and 529 savings

When student loans take most borrowers over two decades to repay, that debt inevitably becomes a workplace issue. And that ongoing burden is hurting your business, as financial stress hinders productivity, retention, and overall workplace culture.

Equity-focused benefits like student loan assistance and 529 savings give employers a direct way to address the challenges caused by student debt.

As a practical extension of DEI, these benefits help ease a burden that falls disproportionately on certain groups, creating more equitable conditions for all employees to succeed. Plus, they provide the kind of financial support that 2 in 3 employees say they want and that 83% of employers say meaningfully improves employee wellbeing.

By helping employees reduce debt or build savings, employers remove a major barrier to financial stability, personal wellbeing, and workplace performance. Student loan assistance and 529 savings goes beyond supporting individual employees to strengthen the organization as a whole.

It’s time to offer relief

The bottom line: DEI is good for business; student debt is not.

Offering student loan assistance and 529 savings benefits promotes equity, unlocks employee potential, and supports a more innovative and resilient workforce. It’s a simple yet effective way to boost everyone on the team.

Help your employees be their best. Talk to an Expert or get started today.

Ready to get started?

A Student Loan Repayment Benefit expert is ready to help.

Talk to an expert