Dive Brief:
- With a Monday announcement, Starbucks and Arizona State University revealed an expansion of their tuition reimbursement program.
- Under the expansion, employees with less than 60 college credits will now be eligible to join the almost 2,000 Starbucks employees currently receiving a tuition discount along with Pell Grants and need-based aid, with reimbursements for the remainder of what they owe covered by Starbucks.
- In all, around 3,400 Starbucks employees have applied for the program, which was initially only available as a completion program for students who had already earned at least 60 credits, with reimbursements issued after students completed 21 credits. The program will now reimburse students each semester.
Dive Insight:
Ultimately, the Chronicle of Higher Education reports, at $2,420 for 12 credits, the tuition discounts from ASU amount to around 42% off the sticker price. Starbucks also requires participating employees to work at least 20 hours per week.
The most popular majors have reportedly been psychology, organizational leadership, health sciences, mass communications and media studies, and English, with a majority of students coming from California, Washington, Arizona, Texas, Florida, and Illinois.
Of course, Starbucks isn't alone in offering such a program. As the Chronicle mentions, McDonald's recently expanded its own "Archways to Opportunity" program to include franchise managers and all crew members. And as we've noted before, UPS has also long offered an "Earn & Learn" program to its Louisville, KY, facility's employees through the University of Louisville and Jefferson Community and Technical College.