Starbucks said this week it will extend its offer of free college tuition to full-and-part-time employees in its non-licensed retail stores.
The coffee company has an arrangement with Arizona State University through which it already offers non-degreed employees two years of free education via ASU's online education portal. ASU gives scholarship money to qualifying Starbucks employees that covers 42 percent of the cost of tuition; Starbucks pays the rest.
Now, reports CNN Money, the company will add two years to that offer to give employees the opportunity to earn a four-year bachelor's degree from ASU. Students will now be reimbursed for tuition at the end of each semester. Previously they had been reimbursed at year-end.
As with other Starbucks programs, employees that work in the “licensed” stores, such as coffee stands inside supermarkets, aren't eligible for the offer. Such employees are also prohibited from accepting tips from customers.
The offer is also not open to employees who have a college degree.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
