Taco Bell Free College

[MNomadic]

This is one I've been researching (Guild Education is the same company that does it for Verizon, Walmart & Chipotle).  For a recent high school grad with little to no work experience, this would be an ideal situation:

1) minimal work requirements (20 hours/wk), starts on day one

2) for the "fully funded" degrees at Bellevue U, SNHU, Wilmington U, and Brandman U, this means no out-of-pocket costs - the company pays the school directly, and there doesn't seem to be a limit to how much they'll pay in a year

3) no limit to what type of degree you can get (so not limited to IT, Business, etc.).

One of my daughter's friends may come to live with us, she'll be 18 and won't have any money other than what she can make working, parents who won't fill out the FAFSA for her, and she can't get the job she really wants until she's older (she wants to be a flight attendant).  So we've talked, and she is very open to getting 90cr of ACE and working at one of these places for the free tuition, getting her degree in a year, and then moving onto another job to get some good experience under her belt.

For someone in her circumstances, it's perfect.  If she needs a job anyway, why not one that will pay for her college.

But I can certainly see that this is not idea for everyone.  Really, it's not meant to be ideal, and most people at these companies are not going to take advantage of this (or stick around long enough to do more than a few courses).

Agreed. I know a lot of companies have very convoluted hoop jumping for their education benefits(which discourages most people from utilizing this benefit), so I think the Guild partnerships that many companies are using will(hopefully) be a decent way to streamline and simplify the process. This Taco Bell benefit does seem to have more options than the Walmart deal and letting you get in on the deal from day 1 is a great opportunity for some people to make a change in their life if they don't have many other options. I definitely like seeing more companies getting more competitive with these benefits, even if they aren't great companies to work for.

[ss20ts]

A lot of people have to work in jobs that are hell anyway when they lack a degree. I wish this was a thing a few years ago and that more companies offered college benefits. I would've liked working retail a lot better if I'd have been able to get a college degree at the time.

Most people who work at these jobs don't last long enough to finish a semester forget an entire college degree. This place was top 5 worse jobs I ever had including not scheduling me to work and holding my paycheck.

[dfrecore]

A lot of people have to work in jobs that are hell anyway when they lack a degree. I wish this was a thing a few years ago and that more companies offered college benefits. I would've liked working retail a lot better if I'd have been able to get a college degree at the time.

Most people who work at these jobs don't last long enough to finish a semester forget an entire college degree. This place was top 5 worse jobs I ever had including not scheduling me to work and holding my paycheck.

It was one job at one store.  Due to Covid, there are TONS of jobs in fast food, the pay is good, and hours are way more than 20 hours a week.  Both of my kids (18 & 16) were working 35-40 hours a week right from the start here (August).  My daughter got a raise a couple of months after starting, and then a promotion and raise soon thereafter.  She makes more than minimum wage in this area, loves her coworkers, and gets free tuition at Purdue Global.  Fully-funded so no out-of-pocket.  My son is in his wrestling season right now, and his boss basically begged him to please work 1 day a week, so he works Sundays for 8 hours.  He likes his job too.

Also, most of the schools on the list are not-semester based schools, so much easier to get courses paid for over a short period of time:
Purdue Global is 6-week or 10-week courses
Wlmington is 7-week or 14-week courses
SNHU and Brandman are 8-week courses
Bellevue is 11-week courses

[ss20ts]

A lot of people have to work in jobs that are hell anyway when they lack a degree. I wish this was a thing a few years ago and that more companies offered college benefits. I would've liked working retail a lot better if I'd have been able to get a college degree at the time.

Most people who work at these jobs don't last long enough to finish a semester forget an entire college degree. This place was top 5 worse jobs I ever had including not scheduling me to work and holding my paycheck.

It was one job at one store.  Due to Covid, there are TONS of jobs in fast food, the pay is good, and hours are way more than 20 hours a week.  Both of my kids (18 & 16) were working 35-40 hours a week right from the start here (August).  My daughter got a raise a couple of months after starting, and then a promotion and raise soon thereafter.  She makes more than minimum wage in this area, loves her coworkers, and gets free tuition at Purdue Global.  Fully-funded so no out-of-pocket.  My son is in his wrestling season right now, and his boss basically begged him to please work 1 day a week, so he works Sundays for 8 hours.  He likes his job too.

Also, most of the schools on the list are not-semester based schools, so much easier to get courses paid for over a short period of time:
Purdue Global is 6-week or 10-week courses
Wlmington is 7-week or 14-week courses
SNHU and Brandman are 8-week courses
Bellevue is 11-week courses

Why is it whenever I give my experience on something you always have to come in and give me a hard time? I normally just ignore your posts because this issue we seem to have. I do not comment on your threads anymore and I'm making an exception because once again you are giving me a hard time. How about you just don't comment on my posts and I don't comment on yours? 

In MANY areas there are NOT "TONS of jobs in fast food". There is where YOU are but we all don't live where you live. Where I live, minimum wage is significantly higher than the federal minimum. And no fast food restaurants here don't pay more because it's already over $12.00 an hour. It's great that your daughter got a raise and a promotion, but that's not reality for most people who work in fast food. Your kids are jus that kids. The vast majority of us here aren't kids! 

[StoicJ]

My wife worked at Taco Bell for almost 4 years from ages 17-21, and she really liked her time there. Then again, she doesn't have a whole lot of bad things to say about any place she's worked.

I can see this being a good deal for a lot of folks. 20 hrs x 52 = roughly 1000 hours per year. If you take courses full-time and say TB pays $4000 in a year, you basically get a ~$4/hr addtl benefit. Makes a $9-$11/hr job look a whole lot better. What really stands out to me is the fact that employees qualify right off the bat.

There's also the fact that TB's are everywhere. I live in a semi-rural area. The concentration of jobs is pretty low, but there are two TB's within 15 minutes of my home.

Hopefully a lot of people can benefit. Good on Taco Bell for offering this : )

[dfrecore]

A lot of people have to work in jobs that are hell anyway when they lack a degree. I wish this was a thing a few years ago and that more companies offered college benefits. I would've liked working retail a lot better if I'd have been able to get a college degree at the time.

Most people who work at these jobs don't last long enough to finish a semester forget an entire college degree. This place was top 5 worse jobs I ever had including not scheduling me to work and holding my paycheck.

It was one job at one store.  Due to Covid, there are TONS of jobs in fast food, the pay is good, and hours are way more than 20 hours a week.  Both of my kids (18 & 16) were working 35-40 hours a week right from the start here (August).  My daughter got a raise a couple of months after starting, and then a promotion and raise soon thereafter.  She makes more than minimum wage in this area, loves her coworkers, and gets free tuition at Purdue Global.  Fully-funded so no out-of-pocket.  My son is in his wrestling season right now, and his boss basically begged him to please work 1 day a week, so he works Sundays for 8 hours.  He likes his job too.

Also, most of the schools on the list are not-semester based schools, so much easier to get courses paid for over a short period of time:
Purdue Global is 6-week or 10-week courses
Wlmington is 7-week or 14-week courses
SNHU and Brandman are 8-week courses
Bellevue is 11-week courses

Why is it whenever I give my experience on something you always have to come in and give me a hard time? I normally just ignore your posts because this issue we seem to have. I do not comment on your threads anymore and I'm making an exception because once again you are giving me a hard time. How about you just don't comment on my posts and I don't comment on yours? 

In MANY areas there are NOT "TONS of jobs in fast food". There is where YOU are but we all don't live where you live. Where I live, minimum wage is significantly higher than the federal minimum. And no fast food restaurants here don't pay more because it's already over $12.00 an hour. It's great that your daughter got a raise and a promotion, but that's not reality for most people who work in fast food. Your kids are jus that kids. The vast majority of us here aren't kids! 

I did say that it was a good option for SOME people.  Obviously not all.  And I am pointing out that your experience isn't the same as everyone else's experience.  You said your experience, I said what I've seen.  Not sure why this bothers you.

And for you saying that "Most people who work at these jobs don't last long enough to finish a semester forget an entire college degree." I was pointing out that you don't have to last an entire semester, since these schools aren't semester timeframes.

FWIW, I don't always look at WHO is posting, I just read the comment and then comment.  So if you don't like what I say, ignore it.  But other people are going to come on here and read, and I am trying to tell THEM (not necessarily you) something.  THEY need to know that they can choose a school that offers shorter courses; maybe they hate the job and can stick it out until the end of 7 weeks rather than 16; maybe they don't know that all schools aren't 16 weeks long; maybe they know that Taco Bell isn't the world's best job but have never thought that they could get tuition paid for, and would consider it for that reason.  I don't know, but I just know that it's important for people to read something like this and give it some thought.

It's the same if you post incorrect info. If you come on here and say that TESU will accept a course when I know they won't, or COSC doesn't actually require 30cr of RA, or EC won't take NA credit, or whatever - I will correct it if I can.  Other people are going to read this, and they need correct info.  If you don't want to read what I say, don't.  But don't tell people they aren't allowed to comment on your posts.

And BTW - if I say something that is incorrect about something you know, you are more than welcome to correct that.  You're an acknowledged expert on UMPI, I would defer to you on that school.  If you say a course will or won't come in, I might question how you got the info, but I wouldn't tell others to ignore you correcting my info.

[ss20ts]

A lot of people have to work in jobs that are hell anyway when they lack a degree. I wish this was a thing a few years ago and that more companies offered college benefits. I would've liked working retail a lot better if I'd have been able to get a college degree at the time.

Most people who work at these jobs don't last long enough to finish a semester forget an entire college degree. This place was top 5 worse jobs I ever had including not scheduling me to work and holding my paycheck.

It was one job at one store.  Due to Covid, there are TONS of jobs in fast food, the pay is good, and hours are way more than 20 hours a week.  Both of my kids (18 & 16) were working 35-40 hours a week right from the start here (August).  My daughter got a raise a couple of months after starting, and then a promotion and raise soon thereafter.  She makes more than minimum wage in this area, loves her coworkers, and gets free tuition at Purdue Global.  Fully-funded so no out-of-pocket.  My son is in his wrestling season right now, and his boss basically begged him to please work 1 day a week, so he works Sundays for 8 hours.  He likes his job too.

Also, most of the schools on the list are not-semester based schools, so much easier to get courses paid for over a short period of time:
Purdue Global is 6-week or 10-week courses
Wlmington is 7-week or 14-week courses
SNHU and Brandman are 8-week courses
Bellevue is 11-week courses

Why is it whenever I give my experience on something you always have to come in and give me a hard time? I normally just ignore your posts because this issue we seem to have. I do not comment on your threads anymore and I'm making an exception because once again you are giving me a hard time. How about you just don't comment on my posts and I don't comment on yours? 

In MANY areas there are NOT "TONS of jobs in fast food". There is where YOU are but we all don't live where you live. Where I live, minimum wage is significantly higher than the federal minimum. And no fast food restaurants here don't pay more because it's already over $12.00 an hour. It's great that your daughter got a raise and a promotion, but that's not reality for most people who work in fast food. Your kids are jus that kids. The vast majority of us here aren't kids! 

I did say that it was a good option for SOME people.  Obviously not all.  And I am pointing out that your experience isn't the same as everyone else's experience.  You said your experience, I said what I've seen.  Not sure why this bothers you.

And for you saying that "Most people who work at these jobs don't last long enough to finish a semester forget an entire college degree." I was pointing out that you don't have to last an entire semester, since these schools aren't semester timeframes.

FWIW, I don't always look at WHO is posting, I just read the comment and then comment.  So if you don't like what I say, ignore it.  But other people are going to come on here and read, and I am trying to tell THEM (not necessarily you) something.  THEY need to know that they can choose a school that offers shorter courses; maybe they hate the job and can stick it out until the end of 7 weeks rather than 16; maybe they don't know that all schools aren't 16 weeks long; maybe they know that Taco Bell isn't the world's best job but have never thought that they could get tuition paid for, and would consider it for that reason.  I don't know, but I just know that it's important for people to read something like this and give it some thought.

It's the same if you post incorrect info. If you come on here and say that TESU will accept a course when I know they won't, or COSC doesn't actually require 30cr of RA, or EC won't take NA credit, or whatever - I will correct it if I can.  Other people are going to read this, and they need correct info.  If you don't want to read what I say, don't.  But don't tell people they aren't allowed to comment on your posts.

And BTW - if I say something that is incorrect about something you know, you are more than welcome to correct that.  You're an acknowledged expert on UMPI, I would defer to you on that school.  If you say a course will or won't come in, I might question how you got the info, but I wouldn't tell others to ignore you correcting my info.

You done ranting? I was simply saying we can not comment on each other's posts. If there was a way to block you I would have ages ago. I have told you this before. I would also not say I'm an expert on UMPI. I know a lot about it, yes, but I'm not an expert and I still people they need to contact UMPI all the time. I didn't tell anyone to ignore you correcting me. Oh why do I bother with you.

[freeloader]

I haven’t looked into this Taco Bell program, but a couple years ago I considered picking up a part time job for an education benefit along these lines. I asked about it in an interview. Turns out, it was only offered at corporate stores and I had applied to a franchise store. I ended up asking to withdraw my application, the education benefit was only one reason I did so.

Just a recommendation that people do their due diligence on these programs. Many stores and restaurants, including a lot that are on college campuses, in truck stops, at airports and train stations, and in other institutional setting along with many franchised locations do not participate in these programs!

[StoicJ]

You done ranting? I was simply saying we can not comment on each other's posts. If there was a way to block you I would have ages ago. I have told you this before. I would also not say I'm an expert on UMPI. I know a lot about it, yes, but I'm not an expert and I still people they need to contact UMPI all the time. I didn't tell anyone to ignore you correcting me. Oh why do I bother with you.

What is WRONG with you?!

[rachel83az]

If you don't like a person's posts, you can click on their name and then there is an "Add to Ignore List" button. I don't know how well, or even if, it works. I simply point out that it is there.