WARSAW — Bowen Center, the largest community mental healthcare provider in Indiana, announced an exciting new employee benefit to help college graduates pay down their student loans.

This generous new benefit is in addition to the tuition reimbursement plan that Bowen has offered its staff for many years.

“We recruit highly qualified and educated people for our team and anything we can do to ease their student loan burden will help them focus on the rewarding job they were hired to do,” said Rob Ryan, Bowen Center senior vice-president of operations. “Being able to further invest in our employees is also an investment in our patients.”

The non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation partnered with Gradifi, a Boston-based provider of the Employer SLP PlanTM benefit, or Student Loan Paydown Plan benefit, to offer financial assistance to pay down student loan debt.

“The new student loan payment is one of several new benefits Bowen Center will be offering to its employees,” said Mary Gerard, Bowen Center vice-president of human resources. “As we compete for talent as a non-profit organization, we want to ensure our benefits package is progressive and relevant to our staff. Student loan debt has risen to a level of concern for employees that nearly matches health insurance considerations. More companies will begin to offer this as a common benefit someday, but we didn’t want to wait. The need is strong now.”

Gradifi’s SLP PlanTM benefit gives businesses the opportunity to help pay down employees’ student loan debt. Companies contribute directly, through structured and secured channels, toward their employees’ student loan principal on a monthly basis. These contributions can take years off student loan balances, potentially shaving three or more years off of a 10-year loan.

“Bowen Center is keenly aware of the student loan debt our employees struggle with,” said Cheryl Shepherd, Bowen Center director of human resources. “Indiana ranked 10th nationally for highest overall student debt according to a recent report so we are thrilled to be one of the first companies in the state to offer this program to our valued employees. One of our employees determined that the plan will cut his loan payments by three years and another told us it will mean that she can go to graduate school, an option she didn’t think she could afford.”

“The burden of having student debt has an indisputable impact on the financial stability of an employee, not to mention the paralyzing effect loans have on the overall economy,” said Meera Oliva, Gradifi chief marketing officer. “Bowen Center’s move to offer Gradifi’s SLP Plan as a benefit to their employees shows their commitment to helping alleviate that burden for its employees, as well as exhibiting leadership for others to follow suit to tackle this national crisis.”