Education benefits have long been a coveted perk at companies, but employers are embracing them in new ways to meet the moment. 

The high cost of college tuition is out of reach for many. Companies are dealing with labor shortages that are only expected to worsen. And according to a  World Economic Forum survey, 39% of workers’ existing skills sets, on average, are expected to be transformed or become outdated by 2030, as technology, including AI, evolve.

Education and training are key to addressing the challenge of a changing workforce, as outlined in a recent report by the Bipartisan Policy Center.

It’s against that backdrop that major companies such as Amazon, Boeing, Target, and Starbucks, to name just a few, pay for employees to earn degrees and certificates. Some 48% of employers in the U.S. offer tuition assistance for undergraduate and graduate degrees, according to a survey by SHRM.

Expanding Education Benefits is a Business Strategy

Best Buy, the nation’s largest consumer electronics chain, is another company offering education benefits to its employees. The company has been offering tuition discounts and assistance to its employees for more than a decade. But in February, it expanded its education benefit to offer no-cost degrees and certificates for full-time and part-time employees starting on their first day. It’s done in partnership with Strayer University, an online education institution.

Charter Communications, which owns Spectrum – a suite of advanced communications services including internet, television, mobile, and voice service – did something similar in August of 2023 when it also expanded its education benefits to include a free degree program for full-time employees.

The company sees it as a way to attract and retain workers. “This may be the equivalent of a pension back in the fifties or sixties,” says Paul Marchand, executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Charter Communications. “We certainly want longevity,” he adds. 

Previously, Charter reimbursed employees earning a degree up to $10,000 and then extended its education benefit when it partnered with education tech firm Guild to provide online degrees and certificate programs to eligible employees.

“This was a match made in heaven because it turned the whole tuition reimbursement program on its side – on its head – and it became a tuition assistance program.

“We’re going to assist you in improving your capabilities and skills through either certificate programs or degree programs where you do not need to lay any money out,” explains Marchand. 

Online Programs Offer Workers Flexibility

A key difference, he says, is that the company’s reimbursement program was geared more toward white collar workers, but that’s not the demographic of many Spectrum employees. He says the majority of workers either install or repair internet and phone service or work in sales and customer service. 

“This tuition reimbursement model, it didn’t really make sense for them putting money out and having to then wait to get the money back for somebody that’s making $60,000, $50,000, $70,000 a year. That’s a burden, asking people to go physically on site to a school at night or on the weekends, when maybe they’re a single parent. That’s a burden,” stresses Marchand.

That flexibility for workers to be able to take online classes to meet their personal schedules is seen as a draw for company employees in 41 states.

Education Benefits Create Opportunities for Advancement

Since launching the Charter Education Benefit in August of 2023, the company counts 13,000 Spectrum employees who’ve either participated in or completed a program, which is 8.5 times higher than the reimbursement program.

More than two-thirds of the participants, according to the company, are frontline employees dealing with consumers and who are experiencing a promotion rate that is 24% higher than counterparts not enrolled in the program.

At Charter, employees can take courses that are linked with the company’s business and include technology, operations management, project management, and marketing. 

“We make sure that that education benefit isn’t just a benefit, but it’s a strategic opportunity for employers to help ensure that they’re investing in their employees in a way that’s aligned to the jobs that may be available in the future,” says Bijal Shah, CEO of Guild, which offers customized workforce and skilling solutions that works with major companies including Charter, Walmart, Discover, and Chipotle.

Guild works with company leaders to determine their biggest internal challenges. “We have tools in our toolkit to help you better understand how your workforce is going to evolve. The bread and butter of what Guild does is to design a very tailored set of programs and a catalog that works for the business strategy that that employer is trying to solve,” explains Shah. 

Agile Programs are Critical as Technology Evolves

Peering into the future for any employer today involves artificial intelligence. And providing education content around AI is something Shah says employers are asking them to provide. 

“We’ve created bundles that are targeted to specific populations. AI essentials that the broad employee population could take advantage of. AI for leaders so that, if you’re a leader, you can contemplate how to utilize AI or get my workers to utilize AI to help better enable the business outcomes I’m trying to drive,” adds Shah. 

Learning about AI is a common theme among online education programs. “There is not a program where we have not instituted some level of learning, as it relates to AI,” says Antoinette Farmer-Thompson, Ed.D., president of Strayer University.

Farmer-Thompson says Strayer works with 500 different organizations, describing the appetite among employers for a degree-at-work program “significant.” 

“They want to help produce employees that are more skilled, that are better equipped to advance the organization’s results and goals and outcomes, and even accelerate them by having a more upskilled workforce,” explains Farmer-Thompson.

She sees these kinds of degrees having a more immediate impact for employees. 

“Our mission is creating that economic mobility for working adults, but to do so throughout their academic journey. And that’s, you know, that’s a really critical part of the tuition assistance. Employees don’t have to wait until they’re done to see some of the benefits of their learning,” she explains. 

Encouraging Employees to Take Advantage of the Education Benefits

The big challenge: will employees take advantage of their employers’ education offerings?

Farmer-Thompson says she’s hearing from employers that they want to see more employees taking advantage of these education benefits. And Guild’s Shah stresses continuous learning is crucial for a changing workforce. 

“The thing for me that is most important is can you learn to learn? That is the most critical skill that we will require because if AI actually revolutionizes the way that we work, the half-life of skills is just going to continue to get shorter and shorter and shorter, which means your ability to stay relevant in the workforce means you need agile learning and you need agility in your learning capacity to be able to actually keep up with what’s happening,” emphasizes Shah.