Walmart to Help Associates Get College Degrees

[cookderosa]

My employer kicks in $5k a year and I'd be stupid to leave it on the table. That's a $5k/yr raise that i would be willfully turning down.

YES!! That's the way I see it too.

When my husband started his BS through employer reimbursement, his income was probably around $40,000 per year with no opportunities for an increase in that company- he'd been hired in at the top of what they pay, and that's just what the job pays. <shrug> But, he had an educational benefit, and I was just finishing up at TESU, so it caught my attention. He did the degree - and that degree would have cost us about $35,000 on our own, so beyond it being a $35k "gift" the real benefit is that it qualified him for a job that started at $55,000.

For a single income family with 4 kids, that made a difference in our life- a big one. That was many years ago, but to evaluate the impact of that kind of pay bump had (has) on a family, you have to multiply that out over a lifetime and factor in that any standard of living % increase is on a higher base too.

He finished his MBA last week and received a modest base salary bump of about $1,500. I've heard his coworkers say that's not enough to motivate them, but they're not doing the math. That isn't $1500 x 1 year, it's times your working lifetime - not to mention a simple 3% standard of living increase! My math estimates he'll have netted an additional $100,000 between now and retirement from the "modest $1500" increase. And he's 48 years old, so imagine had he done this 20 years ago!!? LOW. HANGING. FRUIT.

[xjarhead1999]

I'd guess there will be a small percentage of Walmart employees that actually take advantage of this. At least that's my opinion based upon the makeup of my local Walmart. Most of the local employees here would fall into categories I don't think have internet in college. There are a bunch of seniors that are just working to have some extra retirement money. There are a bunch of what you could say don't have the mental capabilities for college. (I ment that in the nicest way possible, I think it's great that Walmart allows "slow" people to have a job) There are a lot of people that work there that are more worried about drugs and partying than their future. The rest, that I see taking advantage of it, are a very small percentage.
On why people don't take advantage of things like this, I'll throw in my opinion.
I can get tuition reimbursement for up to $5250 a year. $1,200 is from my union, the rest ($4,050) from the employer. There is also a grant/partnership with Ashford University where we can go to college there and it not cost us a dime. After Ashford gets the $5250 each year the rest of the fees are waived.
There are a few catches though. The $1,200 from the union can be used for any degree. To use tuition reimbursement from the company, it has to be for something that can be used at my place of employment. Some sort of business related degree is what most go for. Business law isn't allowed. IT is acceptable also.
The company will only allow you to use the tuition reimbursement for an Associate's or Bachelor's degree.
They also have a 2 year expectation of continued service. If you voluntarily quit work within one year, you have to pay back 100% of what you used from the company. If you quit after a year but before two years you are required to pay back 50%.
I started going to Ashford but quit. Right now I am doing everything out of my own pocket and will continue to do so. At the beginning of next year I will use the unions tuition reimbursement. I don't want to be limited or obligated to my company.

[dfrecore]

I'd guess there will be a small percentage of Walmart employees that actually take advantage of this. At least that's my opinion based upon the makeup of my local Walmart. Most of the local employees here would fall into categories I don't think have internet in college. There are a bunch of seniors that are just working to have some extra retirement money. There are a bunch of what you could say don't have the mental capabilities for college. (I ment that in the nicest way possible, I think it's great that Walmart allows "slow" people to have a job) There are a lot of people that work there that are more worried about drugs and partying than their future. The rest, that I see taking advantage of it, are a very small percentage.
On why people don't take advantage of things like this, I'll throw in my opinion.
I can get tuition reimbursement for up to $5250 a year. $1,200 is from my union, the rest ($4,050) from the employer. There is also a grant/partnership with Ashford University where we can go to college there and it not cost us a dime. After Ashford gets the $5250 each year the rest of the fees are waived.
There are a few catches though. The $1,200 from the union can be used for any degree. To use tuition reimbursement from the company, it has to be for something that can be used at my place of employment.  Some sort of business related degree is what most go for. Business law isn't allowed. IT is acceptable also.
The company will only allow you to use the tuition reimbursement for an Associate's or Bachelor's degree.
They also have a 2 year expectation of continued service. If you voluntarily quit work within one year, you have to pay back 100% of what you used from the company. If you quit after a year but before two years you are required to pay back 50%.
I started going to Ashford but quit. Right now I am doing everything out of my own pocket and will continue to do so. At the beginning of next year I will use the unions tuition reimbursement. I don't want to be limited or obligated to my company.

I agree that only a small percentage will actually use this, but for someone who wants to, they'd be smart to do so.  I actually worked at a company that laid off an entire manufacturing department (they were closing a fabrication plant and moving it overseas).   The employees were told about it more than a YEAR in advance, given all kinds of help with re-education, including practically unlimited tuition reimbursement for 2 years.  Do you want to know how many of those 250+ people who KNEW they were getting laid off, working in a dying industry, took advantage of the tuition reimbursement?  TWO!  Yes, 2 people decided to go to school.  Not only did the company pay for their degrees, they rehired them at corporate HQ and gave them much better jobs then they'd had, and let them continue on with their degrees.  And of course, there was lots of grumbling by the other 248 employees on lay-off day about what a raw deal they'd gotten!

Also, yes, most companies have a continued service expectation of some sort.  They want to recoup the money they've spent.  I've been places where it's 1 year, and others where it's 2-3.

I've also known of companies where you have to get a degree related to your current job (if you work in accounting for instance, you can get a degree in accounting, finance, or business).  Others where it can be literally anything.  Still others where it has to be in a particular area (IT, business, etc.).

[Johann]

$1 a day? Wow, that's a serious rollback! I wish the students every success!

Walmart had a degree-assistance scheme for employees a while back, in 2010. The partnership was with American Public University system. The terms weren't nearly so generous and I don't know how it panned out. Obviously, since they now have a completely new partner and scheme of things, it can't have been a stellar success.

The low price should really help. Good for them! I hope Walmart has to pay for employees' degrees till it hurts. I can see the folks now, at the Bentonville AR Home Office - smilin' through the pain...

[cookderosa]

I'd guess there will be a small percentage of Walmart employees that actually take advantage of this. At least that's my opinion based upon the makeup of my local Walmart. Most of the local employees here would fall into categories I don't think have internet in college. There are a bunch of seniors that are just working to have some extra retirement money. There are a bunch of what you could say don't have the mental capabilities for college. (I ment that in the nicest way possible, I think it's great that Walmart allows "slow" people to have a job) There are a lot of people that work there that are more worried about drugs and partying than their future. The rest, that I see taking advantage of it, are a very small percentage.
On why people don't take advantage of things like this, I'll throw in my opinion.
I can get tuition reimbursement for up to $5250 a year. $1,200 is from my union, the rest ($4,050) from the employer. There is also a grant/partnership with Ashford University where we can go to college there and it not cost us a dime. After Ashford gets the $5250 each year the rest of the fees are waived.
There are a few catches though. The $1,200 from the union can be used for any degree. To use tuition reimbursement from the company, it has to be for something that can be used at my place of employment.  Some sort of business related degree is what most go for. Business law isn't allowed. IT is acceptable also.
The company will only allow you to use the tuition reimbursement for an Associate's or Bachelor's degree.
They also have a 2 year expectation of continued service. If you voluntarily quit work within one year, you have to pay back 100% of what you used from the company. If you quit after a year but before two years you are required to pay back 50%.
I started going to Ashford but quit. Right now I am doing everything out of my own pocket and will continue to do so. At the beginning of next year I will use the unions tuition reimbursement. I don't want to be limited or obligated to my company.

I agree that only a small percentage will actually use this, but for someone who wants to, they'd be smart to do so.  I actually worked at a company that laid off an entire manufacturing department (they were closing a fabrication plant and moving it overseas).   The employees were told about it more than a YEAR in advance, given all kinds of help with re-education, including practically unlimited tuition reimbursement for 2 years.  Do you want to know how many of those 250+ people who KNEW they were getting laid off, working in a dying industry, took advantage of the tuition reimbursement?  TWO!  Yes, 2 people decided to go to school.  Not only did the company pay for their degrees, they rehired them at corporate HQ and gave them much better jobs then they'd had, and let them continue on with their degrees.  And of course, there was lots of grumbling on lay-off day about what a raw deal they'd gotten!

Also, yes, most companies have a continued service expectation of some sort.  They want to recoup the money they've spent.  I've been places where it's 1 year, and others where it's 2-3.

I've also known of companies where you have to get a degree related to your current job (if you work in accounting for instance, you can get a degree in accounting, finance, or business).  Others where it can be literally anything.  Still others where it has to be in a particular area (IT, business, etc.).

As I understand it, Walmart isn't going to require a service agreement- I can't see why this isn't a perfect opportunity for a teen to grab a summer job and then start college in the fall while working weekends. I just read in FAIL U the data on college hours - and the average college student is only spending a total of about 15 hours per week in class+studying. Combine that with the boatloads of data that say working during college improves outcomes (not a million hours, but a few) and you have a real winning combination!

[dfrecore]

As I understand it, Walmart isn't going to require a service agreement- I can't see why this isn't a perfect opportunity for a teen to grab a summer job and then start college in the fall while working weekends.  I just read in FAIL U the data on college hours - and the average college student is only spending a total of about 15 hours per week in class+studying.  Combine that with the boatloads of data that say working during college improves outcomes (not a million hours, but a few) and you have a real winning combination!

That's exactly what I was thinking.  A teen working weekends and holidays, and then 15-20 hours a week during school getting free tuition is just about the best deal you can come up with!  I will be encouraging my daughter to start looking at this when she graduates in a couple of years.

[sanantone]

I'm going to be a Debbie Downer like always. We're kind of talking about two groups of people here. There are kids who plan to go to college and MIGHT apply to Walmart for this opportunity. Many middle class kids would rather work at Forever 21 and would turn up their noses at going to school entirely online. Then, there are people who work at Walmart because they don't want to go to college. I'm sure many, if not most, Walmart employees qualify for almost $6,000 a year in Pell Grant money. The average CC is about $3k per year. Many public, 4-year colleges are still under $9k per year.

From firsthand experience as an instructor at a for-profit college, I learned that many students elected to pay 10X the tuition they would have paid at a CC because CCs required too much of them. Imagine how many Walmart employees won't be accepted to UF or won't want to put in the effort to meet admissions requirements.

[MNomadic]

I agree but the way I see I see it, there are no longer any excuses for not getting a college degree anymore. Between grants, scholarships, ultra cheap/free credits, pierpont BOG aas, and companies like Walmart and Starbucks paying for virtually a whole degree, I can't think of a single situation where a healthy person in the US can't get something.

[sanantone]

I agree but the way I see I see it, there are no longer any excuses for not getting a college degree anymore. Between grants, scholarships, ultra cheap/free credits, pierpont BOG aas, and companies like Walmart and Starbucks paying for virtually a whole degree, I can't think of a single situation where a healthy person in the US can't get something.

Most people don't research things. Most people don't even know what CLEP is. They're definitely not going to know about West Virginia community colleges. Surprisingly, a lot of people don't find out about grants until after they apply for college. That's why for-profit colleges were so attractive. They advertised that they could help you find enough aid to cover tuition, and some help prospective students fill out the FAFSA. 

Then, you have those students who want the full college experience and don't like the idea of online schooling. Starbucks has a partnership with ASU; Walmart has a partnership with UF. I think the Starbucks benefit is only for ASU Online. The UF partnership covers in-person courses, but if you don't live in Florida, you will have to attend online.

[Ideas]

I laugh because my brother tried not to get hired at Walmart when called into an interview while on unemployment because he wanted a less big-corp more small business job. He wore crazy mismatched plaid suiting and provided a highly unprofessional email address. He got hired as a  department manager for lawn and garden. He actually enjoyed that position for the 18 months or so he worked there.

LOL, but he should have tried harder?  I think an unprofessional email address is common.

Glad he liked it.

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Then, there are people who work at Walmart because they don't want to go to college. I'm sure many, if not most, Walmart employees qualify for almost $6,000 a year in Pell Grant money. The average CC is about $3k per year. Many public, 4-year colleges are still under $9k per year.

From firsthand experience as an instructor at a for-profit college, I learned that many students elected to pay 10X the tuition they would have paid at a CC because CCs required too much of them. Imagine how many Walmart employees won't be accepted to UF or won't want to put in the effort to meet admissions requirements.

Yeah, I felt many companies only offer the Pell amount or a little less. Originally I thought it was because working would reduce the Pell amount, and the companies were trying to make up for it, but now it makes more sense. Many people don't realize that they can get Pell, but the companies can sell it as an added benefit.

Required too much for admission, or degree requirements? Just wondering if CCs are more challenging in some way.

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They also have a 2 year expectation of continued service. If you voluntarily quit work within one year, you have to pay back 100% of what you used from the company. If you quit after a year but before two years you are required to pay back 50%.
I started going to Ashford but quit. Right now I am doing everything out of my own pocket and will continue to do so. At the beginning of next year I will use the unions tuition reimbursement. I don't want to be limited or obligated to my company.

Oh, this is significant. Smart for companies to require this.