JONESBORO – Amazon employees who want to continue their education can now do so through Arkansas State University.
According to the university, the more than 100 courses from A-State Online will be eligible for Amazon Career Choice starting in the summer semester. The agreement allows ASU, along with countless other universities, to offer bachelor’s degrees to the global corporation’s employees through its tuition assistance program.
“We are pleased to participate in the Amazon program for its employees,” Chancellor Todd Shields said in an ASU press release. “Studies have repeatedly shown that completing a degree opens up incredible career opportunities, and for adult learners who are location-bound or face time constraints from full-time employment, a respected, robust online university option is critical to their success.”
ASU already has about 5,000 online students, and “this is the future,” Shields said last fall. “No, 18-year-olds who come onto campus for four years are never going away, but more people who are older will be looking into college for degrees and certifications, and ‘these are people with families, so they’re not going. “Living on campus for four years.”
Amazon’s Career Choice program, launched in 2012, works with numerous educational providers, including colleges and universities, as well as partners who offer industry certifications, English proficiency and high school graduation programs, according to ASU. The new alliance came about at the request of a growing number of state-run Amazon employees who wanted to enroll in ASU’s degree programs.
“It says a lot about A-State Online’s reputation that Amazon employees asked about local Arkansas programs when speaking to Amazon Career Choice advisors,” Shields said in the press release.
More than 300,000 Arkansans entered college but left college without a degree, about 10% of the state’s population.
In 2021, 35% of Americans will have at least a bachelor’s degree, but that’s only 25% of Arkansas residents, putting Arkansas ahead of only Mississippi and West Virginia, according to USA Facts, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, the civic group that Government data analyzed.
According to the university, Amazon, which operates in 14 countries around the world, will invest $1.2 billion through 2025 to upskill more than 300,000 employees to better-paying, in-demand jobs in the United States. Amazon employees interested in beginning or completing an online degree at Arkansas State University can learn more about A-State Online by going to AState.edu/Degrees for a list of 100% Online programs and Amazon-eligible employees. For more information on applying, visit AState.edu/AmazonCareerChoice.
According to the company, more than 110,000 Amazon employees worldwide have participated in Career Choice since the program began in 2012.
Full-time Amazon employees are eligible for a maximum benefit of $5,250 per calendar year under the Career Choice program, with no lifetime cap. Part-time employees are entitled to a benefit of $2,625 per calendar year, with no lifetime cap.
“We are extremely proud that more Arkansans and Delta residents have enrolled in our A-State online programs than any other public university,” said Chris Boothman, interim vice chancellor for enrollment management and global engagement, in the press release the University. “And that reputation carried over to Amazon employees who wanted to enroll in a local university.”
