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.