Has anyone seen an education assistance program that reimburses employees for student loan payments? I'm envisioning a program much like a health FSA where the employee submits his/her proof of payment of each installment due on student loans and gets reimbursed by employer up to $5250 per year. It's possible that the employee took the courses several years ago and is still making loan payments. Would this work under section 127?

This seems unlikely to qualify as "educational assistance." Educational loan relief is arguably not the same thing as education expense.

Also, § 1.127-1©(3)(ii) precludes reimbursement for meals, lodging and travel -- yet educational loans often provide students with proceeds meant to pay for room & board in addition to pure tuition-related funds. Might prove fairly difficult to administer.