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PTO Exchange Education Funding and Student Loans Brochure

Written by Carmen Williams | Jul 27, 2026 4:53:07 PM

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Student Loan and Tuition Reimbursement
Millennials and GenZ’ers as a group have taken on the highest levels of student debt in history due to soaring higher education costs. This segment of your employee base is looking for creative ways to reduce this debt burden.

PTO Exchange can help by enabling employees to convert unused vacation / leave for tuition and student loan payments. 

These are reimbursement plans - employees submit receipts for student loan or tuition payments for themselves or their family.

Benefits of Using PTO Exchange for Student Loans and Tuition:

  • Help employees reduce student debt and invest in their education
    and skill development

  • Provide more ways for employees to improve their financial wellness

  • Give employees additional options to avoid hitting their PTO accrual limit

  • Differentiated benefit that helps attract Millennials and GenZ’ers

Tax Treatment and Payroll

Getting reimbursed from PTO is treated as if you are being paid out your PTO hours. Because the value of the PTO hours exchanged is considered compensation by the IRS, the company must remit employer payroll taxes and withhold employee payroll taxes from it. The gross amount will be included as compensation on your W-2.

Relating to payroll, the reimbursement is considered additional earnings. There is no associated deduction so, after taxes have been taken, what’s left is added to net pay.




Ready to Modernize Your PTO Program?

Unused vacation doesn’t have to go to waste. With PTO Exchange, you can turn unused PTO into a strategic benefit—helping employees support their families, reduce debt, save for retirement, or simply gain peace of mind.

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