<p>One of my friends daughters works part time for a retail company that will pay either half or all (I'm not sure which) of her college tuition. I hadn't thought about that option for my college age son. Is this unusual? If not, why don't more students take advantage of it? If anyone knows of some companies which do this and hire students, please post them here. My son may be looking for a job soon.</p>
<p>Quite a few companies have some sort of tuition-reimbursement programs, but with some caveats. Typically, there is a $$ cap ($3,000/yr or so), only classes that are directly related to the duties performed/listed in the job description could be considered for reimbursement, and only full-time employees are eligible for the program.</p>
<p>Agree with BunsenBurner. Our company will reimburse a class at a time, provided the particular class is approved by the employee’s manager as being relevant to the job. That would eliminate most college prerequisites. There’s also a cap of $5,000 per year per employee on the program. There’s an annual budget for the program, which has to be spread around all interested employees. Managers have to know whether there are funds available before they approve reimbursement. The reimbursement can only be obtained for a grade of C+ or better, and the monies must be repaid if the employee leaves the company during the year of reimbursement.</p>
<p>At a class at a time, this is obviously a tough way to earn a degree. The employee also isn’t given time off from work to go to school, so the class needs to be taken at night. If job duties require the employee to work at night, the employee is expected to miss class.</p>
<p>Our S can apply to his employer for reimbursement of graduate school related to his job. Employer also offers to repay some ed loans (have not investigate this & I’m sure there must be some strings). The employer? Federal government.</p>
<p>Taking classes while working full-time or close to it can be a huge challenge in time management and prioritizing. My very motivated friend got her MBA that way but it took her many, many years as she worked full-time and may even have started her family vs. the one or two years it took her then-BF (now H) who was able to just plow through & get his. It can be an option to consider but I’d check carefully about the terms before deciding this is the way to get the education planned.</p>
<p>A prior employer paid 100% for my MBA, which I earned part-time over 4 years in my 20s. They only paid for tuition (not books), but we were reimbursed up front & just needed to submit a ‘B’ or better. I typically took 2 classes/semester year-round. My husband was also doing his masters at night (paid for by his employer), so we had no social life or friends. This was 20+ years ago and I went to my state school. I think my current employer has a cap on annual tuition/employee, but pays for any undergrad degree and only graduate degrees that are relevant to the job. (one of our paralegals is working on her law degree and I know they are covering part of it).</p>
<p>Several of my staff members get an allowance they can use for professional education that can be applied toward tuition. They take courses/seminars of interest that help them in their profession. I believe they may need advance approval. Not sure which ones may be trying to get certificates or just general improved knowledge and am not sure their employer cares as long as it relates to their job & is within the $$ allowance (healthcare field–respiratory therapists). Several docs I know also get allowances for CME that they can spend attending conferences & other events.</p>
<p>UPS used to be a company that did this. A good friend of mine from HS worked at UPS from about 3am-morning. Between that and ROTC, he didn’t have to pay a penny out of pocket. Of course, that was ahem, 30 years ago, so I’m not sure if they still have that program.</p>
<p>Also quite a while ago, but when he lived in Mamphis, my husband worked for FedEx and they paid for prt of tuition (if I recall correctly), too.</p>