Saint Paul Public Schools chooses HM to help its employees find loan forgiveness opportunities

SPRINGFIELD, IL (October 29, 2020) – St. Paul Public Schools today announced a partnership with Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN) to provide student loan debt management resources to its 6,500 employees.

"Many of our educators have taken on significant debt to be qualified to teach in public schools," said Saint Paul Public Schools Executive Director of Human Resources Kenyatta McCarty. "We want to help our educators address this issue, which can cause significant financial stress and lead to higher teacher attrition. This partnership gives our educators free access to Horace Mann's Student Loan Solutions program to help determine the best path to freeing themselves from student loan debt."

A recent Horace Mann study shows more than 60% of educators have student loan debt, and that debt weighs heavily on their decision to stay in the profession.¹

• 34% of educators are considering leaving the profession due to financial stresses
• 88% of educators with student loan debt would be more likely to stay in the profession if they could get their loans forgiven
• 70% would be more likely to stay in the profession longer if they could get a lower monthly payment on their student loans

Horace Mann's Student Loan Solutions accounts, powered by Tuition.io, help educators apply for student loan forgiveness programs, qualify for more favorable repayment plans, and work with student loan coaches by phone, email or chat. Account holders can track their student loans, both federal and privately held, in one place through direct links to loan servicers. Most importantly, the service assists educators through the process of qualifying for loan forgiveness opportunities by taking into account an educator's specific circumstances and optimizing their strategy based on the latest federal program criteria.

“We're on a mission to help educators get the student loan forgiveness they deserve," said Erin Clark, Vice President of Brand and Horace Mann's Student Loan Solutions program. "Four out of five rejected applications for the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program were preventable with awareness and planning. By understanding their loan forgiveness opportunities early, and having access to the right tools and support, more educators can lower their monthly payment now and successfully get their student loans forgiven. Working together through our partnership , we can ensure Saint Paul educators have direct access to our Student Loan Solutions program."

The Horace Mann methodology has been proven to increase the success rate of loan forgiveness applications.

"In the past few years, we have identified more than $5 million in student loan savings for Saint Paul area educators2," said Horace Mann agent Gary Havir, Educators Insurance. "Now all educators in the Saint Paul Public Schools will have access to their own Student Loan Solutions account, powered by Tuition.io. This will expand and deepen our ongoing support to help educators successfully reduce their student loan debt burden, helping them better protect what they have today and prepare for a successful tomorrow."

"Tuition.io is proud to support Horace Mann in bringing student loan debt relief to the educators of Saint Paul Public Schools," said CEO Scott Thompson. "Tuition.io was founded to reduce the burden of student loans. With its extensive portfolio of educator financial solutions and impeccable reputation, Horace Mann is the perfect partner to help bring our student loan debt management resources to the educational community."

(1) The Student Loan Debt Effect: Good Teachers are Leaving Education, Insights

(2) Based on potential savings of educators assisted from January through August 2019 as calculated with the Federal Student Aid Repayment Estimator