**Don’t pay the loans off completely while that ends your $200 monthly employer benefit. A partial payoff can make sense—but only if you leave enough debt to keep collecting the benefit for as long as you expect to stay.**

Using your current figures, keeping the full balance costs approximately:

| Item | Annual amount |
|---|---:|
| Employer contributions | +$2,400 |
| Interest on $17,000 in savings at 2% | +$340 |
| Loan interest at $50–$60/month | −$600–$720 |
| **Net advantage over paying everything off now** | **+$2,020–$2,140** |

That’s an initial estimate before taxes; loan interest should decline as the balance falls. It assumes the employer payments cover your required payments.

**The partial-payoff decision depends on your likely remaining time at this job.** Paying down a loan charging 4% saves more interest than the same cash earns at 2%. That helps you financially as long as the extra payment doesn’t cause the employer contributions to end earlier.

For example, if you were certain you would leave in 12 months, retaining roughly $2,400 of debt, plus a modest buffer, would accommodate twelve $200 contributions. You could pay down the rest now, reducing interest while preserving that year’s benefit. But if you stayed longer, that small balance would soon disappear and you’d lose subsequent contributions.

So I would use this approach:

- **If your departure date is uncertain:** keep the loans and let the employer pay them down. Keeping the cash also preserves flexibility.
- **If you have a reasonably firm departure date:** consider a partial payoff, leaving enough balance for all expected employer payments plus a buffer. Direct the extra payment toward the highest-rate loans first.
- **When the benefit ends:** reassess paying off the remaining loans, comparing their rates with your savings return after tax and preserving an adequate emergency fund.

Before making a partial payment, confirm that the benefit continues when individual loans close and that employer payments satisfy each loan’s required monthly payment. Federal loans allow prepayment without a penalty, and servicers accept payment-allocation instructions. [Edfinancial’s payment guidance](https://edfinancial.studentaid.gov/payments-interest-and-fees)

Your changing interest charge is consistent with **daily interest accrual**: the balance, interest rate, and number of days between payments determine the amount. Longer intervals generally mean more interest. [Federal Student Aid’s explanation](https://studentaid.gov/articles/subsidized-vs-unsubsidized-loans/)

**Credit score should be secondary here.** These are installment loans; paying them off differs from closing a credit card and losing available credit. Paying off your last active installment loan can lower some FICO scores, but you can still have a very high score without installment debt. That possible change doesn’t justify giving up a valuable employer benefit—or paying interest after the benefit ends. [FICO’s explanation](https://www.myfico.com/credit-education/faq/scores/paying-off-installment-loan)