To the ordinary observer, veterinarians may have the best job around: they get to spend all day hanging out with animals, and are further rewarded with a comfortable paycheck. But for many of these workers, the reality contains more stress than a cuddly pup can cure.
Veterinarians and other employees in the industry are saddled with some of the highest student debt balances in the workforce. The average student debt for 2019 vet school graduates was close to $150,000, according to data from the American Veterinary Medical Association, with some reporting debt of over $400,000.
Most veterinary practices are small businesses that don’t offer many employee benefits at all, let alone student-loan benefits, which are offered by just 8% of total employers, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.
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However, Goodly, a student loan benefits provider that allows employers to directly contribute to their employees’ debt, has seen a recent increase in demand among veterinary practices, and currently has 35 veterinary clients ranging from small animal practices to larger, more specialized hospitals.
“We’ve seen a wide variety of practices adding student loan repayment benefits in 2021, with many more evaluating adding a student loan paydown benefit,” says Greg Poulin, CEO of Goodly. “Demand has been astronomical due to a new tax-provision that makes student loan assistance a tax-free benefit.”
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The passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 allows employers to make annual tax-free contributions up to $5,250 to workers’ student loans; as a result, Goodly has seen its veterinary clients increasing the amount they are contributing to employees’ debt each month.
“Prior to the pandemic, the average employer contribution on Goodly from veterinary hospitals was $150 per month, and it was rare to see groups offering more than $200 per month,” Poulin says. “Now that student loan repayment is a tax-free employee benefit, we’ve seen vet practices maximize the tax-free limit of $5,250 per year by contributing $437.50 per month toward their veterinarians' student loan paydown.”
Student debt can have a crippling effect on someone’s mental health, and one in 16 student loan borrowers in their 20s and 30s have considered suicide due to student loans, according to a survey by Student Loan Planner, a financial health resource. That stress, paired with a profession that has a statistically higher suicide rate than the general population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, can be a dangerous combination.
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“We are passionate about many things at Veterinary Specialty Center and our employee benefit package is definitely a labor of love,” says Sheila Haske, human resources director at Veterinary Specialty Center, a privately owned practice with 310 employees that recently extended Goodly’s student loan benefits to its team. “We believe that the love and energy our employees dedicate to our patients is the same love and energy we put into our benefit programs.”
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Before adding the Goodly benefit, the practice surveyed its employees and found that 60% of its doctors and nurses were carrying a significant amount of student loan debt.
“With Goodly, employees can register and make their monthly payments directly through payroll and VSC can also contribute and make extra payments to help pay down these debits,” Haske says. “Every benefit we have added to our package has been done to support our employees and show our appreciation for their hard work and dedication. An employer should always recognize, support, care and appreciate their employees, as they are the driving force of any successful business.”
