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5 CFR § 537.104 - Employee eligibility.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t5/s537.104"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "5 CFR § 537.104 - Employee eligibility."
title_number: 5
title_name: "Administrative Personnel"
section_number: "537.104"
section_name: "Employee eligibility."
chapter_name: "OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT"
subchapter_number: "B"
subchapter_name: "CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS"
part_number: "537"
part_name: "REPAYMENT OF STUDENT LOANS"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "5 U.S.C. 2301, 2302, and 5379(g). E.O. 11478, 3 CFR, 1966-1970 Comp., p. 803, unless otherwise noted; E.O. 13087, 63 FR 30097, 3 CFR, 1998 Comp., p. 191; and E.O. 13152, 65 FR 26115, 3 CFR, 2000 Comp., p. 264."
regulatory_source: "73 FR 64865, Oct. 31, 2008, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "537"
---

# 537.104 Employee eligibility.

(a) Subject to the conditions in 5 U.S.C. 5379 and this part, an authorized agency official may approve student loan repayment benefits to recruit a highly qualified job candidate or retain a highly qualified employee who, during the service period established under a service agreement (consistent with § 537.107), will be serving under—

(1) An appointment other than a time-limited appointment; or

(2) A time-limited appointment if—

(i) The employee (or job candidate) will have at least 3 years remaining under the appointment after the beginning of the service period established under a service agreement; or

(ii) The time-limited appointment authority leads to conversion to another appointment of sufficient duration so that his or her employment with the agency is projected to last for at least 3 additional years after the beginning of the service period established under a service agreement.

(b) An employee occupying a position that is excepted from the competitive service because of its confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character is ineligible for student loan repayment benefits, except that an employee whose position is moved into Schedule Policy/Career may continue to receive student loan repayment benefits based on the terms of the existing applicable service agreement, unless eligibility is lost as described in § 537.108.

(c) An employee becomes ineligible for student loan repayment benefits under the conditions described in § 537.108.

[73 FR 64865, Oct. 31, 2008, as amended at 91 FR 5655, Feb. 6, 2026]