Trinity Bastin, Elena Bautista Rios, and Janet Reyes all work at Amazon’s fulfillment center near the Colorado Springs airport. When you’re not at work, you may be taking classes at Pikes Peak State College in your corporate tab or taking online courses.
Bastin wants a degree in computer science, Bautista Rios wants to be an elementary school teacher, and Reyes is enrolled in the liberal arts curriculum and plans to decide on a college major later. All three women want to complete their degrees within a few years without incurring student loan debt because Amazon will pay for all tuition and up to $5,350 a year as long as they are employed by an online retail giant. thinking about.
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Amazon is a major employer offering to pay for tuition and other costs of higher education to attract and retain employees amid a nationwide labor shortage that does not appear to be resolved anytime soon. UCHealth also empowers employees statewide by earning everything from pharmacy technician and phlebotomist certifications to bachelor’s and master’s degrees in respiratory therapy, social work, and behavioral health. pays for dozens of college programs that lead to high-paying jobs.
Many other companies with a presence in Colorado Springs, such as Chipotle, Lowes, Target, Walmart, and Waste Management, share similar interests through Denver-based Guild Education and a network of universities, including the University of Denver and the College of Business. offers. at Colorado State University. Guild Education offers more than 2,200 academic programs through its network of higher education institutions. Their programs range from high school graduation and English as a second language to software engineering and product management.
Rachel Romer launched Guild Education in 2015 to help employers find what employees want and what employers pay for educational benefits that help new hires and low-income workers land high-paying jobs. Helped bridge the gap between what was possible and what was possible. Since then, the company has raised $378.5 million in venture capital to expand its reach, and the number of students using the platform, which is now available to over 5 million workers, has doubled in the past year. It has more than doubled.
“Our research shows that 63% of employees would stay with their employer if given the opportunity for career development and career paths. We can help you with that, it creates a way for your employees to stay with your company.
“A key insight into the guild’s early efforts is that employers can help their employees avoid[student loan]debt entirely, and we are helping employers find ways to do that. I have.”
Debt-free education programs, pioneered by Starbucks and Guild over the past decade, offer a broader range of educational benefits than the tuition reimbursement programs many employers have offered for decades, but they are largely used by white-collar workers. Debt-free programs appeal to a broader range of workers because employees don’t have to come up with money to pay for tuition or books, and don’t have to wait months to get reimbursed from their employers. increase.
“By asking workers to pay[college tuition]up front and to repay it at the end of the year, workers are often forced to deposit the cost on credit cards or take out payday loans. And repayment worked for white-collar workers, it’s for workers, but not for beginners,” Romer said. “The return on investment (by paying directly for college courses) is so great that employers need to make sure every employee has that opportunity.”
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An April Harvard Business Review article by Guild and Walmart executives said the financial burden of getting into higher education programs was the biggest barrier to admission and the number one reason students dropped out of college. said. Results from Denver-based restaurant chain Chipotle show that employees who participate in a free college education program (through Guild) are 350% more likely to stay with the company and are more likely to be promoted to management7 shown to be twice as high.
Amazon’s program with Pikes Peak State University, which is not operated through a guild (the university aims to join the guild program), began May 31 and has already attracted 100 students. Chelsea Harris, associate vice president of strategic partnerships at the university, said: The average age of program participants is 28, she said, and the majority have little or no college experience.
“By spending money on education benefits to improve[employee]retention, we can save money. It can benefit both the employee and the organization,” says Harris. “Such programs not only help employees avoid[student loan]debt, but also help them get the education they need for affordable, affordable jobs with career advancement opportunities. It doesn’t have to be a full four-year degree, it could be a much quicker certification.”
Three Amazon employees were unaware of the company’s Career Choice program before they got a job at a large fulfillment center. He said he would likely stay with the company if offered a job in a new career field after completing the program.
“I’ve taken college courses in the past, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do[as a career]. I finally figured it out,” Bastin said. I read that STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) jobs are in great demand, so there should be more opportunities. because they are very expensive. ”
Reyes, 29, hopes to pursue a four-year degree, but has not yet decided what kind of career she wants to pursue, so she has not chosen a major. Ultimately, though, he wants to start his own real estate business to buy homes and turn them into short-term vacation rentals for him.
Bautista Rios, 24, is just starting her Early Childhood Education program at Pikes Peak State University, but hopes to eventually transfer to the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs to complete her Bachelor of Elementary Education degree. . She said her love for her nieces and nephews, as well as her children, inspired her to work to become a teacher, and she graduated from her college three years ago with her financial support. I said that I started taking classes in
UCHealth’s Ascend Program is run by Guild and pays entry-level employees and other low-wage employees to attend college classes in order to land high-paying jobs. Her 20-year-old UCCS student, who graduates in December with a bachelor’s degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology, will be hired as a phlebotomist in September 2021 and use the program to complete her medical assistant training. Did. She eventually hopes to use the program to continue her education and become a doctor’s assistant.
“One of the reasons I applied to UCHealth was because I wanted to be a physician assistant. As a), I wanted to step into UCHealth and move up the clinical ladder,” Hoffner said. “Programs like this allow companies to retain high-performing employees and give them the opportunity to grow their careers.”
Both UCCS and Pikes Peak State College have tuition payment programs with UCHealth and Aamazon, but neither school has made significant efforts to seek additional such arrangements with local employers. Hmm.
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However, some employers are already considering such programs. Ent Credit Union already reimburses employees for college tuition up to $10,000 annually, but is considering expanding to direct tuition payments. According to Chris Beiswanger, admissions director at UCCS, other companies have contacted us about details of the Amazon program so they can offer similar benefits to their employees, but they still don’t offer such programs. Not configured or started.
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