Recently, Amazon announced it will cover university and college tuition for its hourly workers at more than 180 higher education institutions across the US.
This support is available through the company’s Career Choice Program to both full-time and part-time employees that have worked with Amazon for at least a 3-month period. This video explains it very well:
The program allows the company’s more than 750,000 workers to earn a certification in a relevant industry subject field or earn an associate’s or bachelor’s degree from one of the participating schools at Amazon’s expense.
The maximum contribution that Amazon will pay upfront is $5,250 annually for full-time workers or up to $2,625 annually for part-time workers.
A full overview of participating universities, colleges, and online educators can be found on the website Onsego.com. Onsego is a publisher of GED prep courses that are recognized by the GED Testing Service as fully aligned with the current GED® test.
Amazon additionally partnered with Smart Horizons and GEDWorks to offer its workers free GED prep courses and high school completion programs.
Once the employees have earned their GED or high school diplomas, they qualify for a college education and job advancement. It is generally known that employees with a high school or GED diploma earn at least $9K more annually than workers without a secondary education degree.
Amazon also set up partnerships with Voxy EnGen and goFLUENT to offer its employees English language proficiency courses and with Outlier for college preparation instruction and training.
The initiative is nationwide available and across all states and covers academic fields such as engineering, marketing, sales, organizational management, and so on. Let’s take a closer look at some states where Amazon participates with schools under the Career Choice initiative:
In Florida, for example, Amazon employees can enroll in academic programs from, among others, Polk State College, Miami Dade College, Valencia College, The University of Central Florida, The University of Florida, Florida International University, Hillsborough Community College, and Florida State College-Jacksonville.
Additionally, there are participating nationally operating online educational institutions, including Western Governors University, Southern New Hampshire University, National University, and Colorado State University, just to mention a few of the options.
Remove the barrier to education
Amazon is convinced this initiative will remove the barrier of cost which will not only benefit the employees but the company as well. These partnerships will give Floridians and the company’s workers across the country another avenue to boost their careers and enhance their opportunities in a competitive market and fast-growing workforce.
The new initiative is part of the company’s continuing investment in the Career Choice program. So now, the workers can get fully-covered college tuition, and the program allows workers to participate in this amazing initiative every year they’re working at Amazon, and they can benefit, as said earlier, after they have worked at Amazon for only 90 days.
Through the Career Choice program, Amazon helps employees to improve their skills and knowledge level and advance their careers. The company even has built on-site classrooms in many of its facilities.
Amazon Fulfillment Centers
Amazon has more than 110 classroom locations on-site in its Fulfillment Centers across more than 35 states. The employees can take classes in-person, online, at a local college or university.
Since Amazon launched the Career Choice program in 2012, the company has supported educational opportunities for over 50,000 of its employees and helped them improve their education and careers.
But Amazon does more. Career training and education are just a few of the benefits that the company offers to its employees. To start with, Amazon is paying its employees wages that start at $18 per hour on average. This is more than double the minimum federal wage.
Additionally, the company provides its workers with more health benefits than its competitors and offers fully-paid parental leave for up to 20 weeks, paid time off, as well as additional benefits for its workforce and their family members.
Cost has always been a major barrier to educational opportunities and Amazon strongly believes that by removing this barrier, the company provides a great free avenue to advance the careers of its workforce so they can prosper in a rapidly growing workforce.
Amazon is committed to empowering its employees through easy access to educational opportunities and the training they require to advance their careers. It’s all about Social Competence, and the company understands that very well!
There’s no requirement for the workers to stay with Amazon once they have completed their education. They can continue their careers with Amazon or elsewhere.
Career Choice initiative
Amazon says it is thrilled to add more education partners to the Career Choice initiative and the company hopes the program will give its workers access to educational pathways that otherwise would remain out of reach and that fit their ambitions and passions.
So whether an Amazon employee is looking to earn a GED, work on English proficiency skills, complete a professional certification program, or earn a bachelor’s degree, it is Amazon’s goal to meet its workers’ needs and wishes, no matter where they are educational.
The participating schools are excited to partner with Amazon since this initiative provides new, amazing opportunities for the company’s workers to develop new skills that will definitely lead to better job options and economic mobility.
Amazon’s Career Choice program is one more step for the schools toward fulfilling their commitment to training our nation’s future workforce and meeting the ever-growing demand for talent.
All across America, the 180 educational institutions are proud to work together with Amazon. They are committed to supporting students’ future personal and professional successes through training and education for high-demand careers.
Often, the schools already work together with local companies, and this initiative to expand their cooperation with nationally or globally operating companies such as Amazon will enhance their objective to deliver affordable, accessible, and top-notch education that meets the needs of adult workers and is in line with industry demands.