CALIFORNIA, USA — Amazon has announced it is partnering with 140 national and local universities to provide free college tuition to over 750,000 of their hourly employees.
In Northern California, employees will be able to accept free tuition from Sacramento City College, California State University Stanislaus, California State University Fresno, Modesto Junior College and Clovis Community College.
Through Amazon's Career Choice program, employees are eligible for free tuition after 90 days of employment without any limitations to the number of years they can benefit. Through the program, employees can pursue a Bachelor's degree, industry certification programs, and build skills through English language proficiency programs and high school completion programs.
“We are very excited about becoming an Amazon Career Choice Educational Partner school,” Kari Knutson Miller, interim Dean for CSU Stanislaus, said in a press release. “It is a great opportunity to support pathways between work and higher education, economic opportunity, career advancement, and the academic, personal, and professional development of participating adult learners in the region.”
Amazon says it is also be partnering with GEDWOrks for GED preparation, Smart Horizons to encourage high school completion and Voxy EnGen and goFluent to provide English language Profiscency.
“We are very happy to partner with Amazon on the Career Choice program. Amazon employees can expect us to offer them the kind of academic programming and personalized help they need to advance or change direction in their careers. This partnership will make that happen!” Albert Garcia, Vice President of instruction at Sacramento City College, said in a press release.
“With the rising costs of tuition, especially in California, programs such as these help individuals achieve educational goals, which may have been out of reach due to financial reasons,” Nicole Bilich, Amazon's HR manager at SCK4 in Stockton, said in a press release.
For more information about Amazon's Career Choice program, click HERE.
