Walmart, Sam's Club employees eligible for new company tuition program
Walmart and Sam's Club employees will be eligible for discounted tuition and college credit through a new company initiative, the retailer announced.
Washtenaw County has Walmart locations in Ypsilanti and Pittsfield townships, as well as a Sam's Club in Pittsfield Township.
The program, announced Thursday, will allow workers to receive college credit from the online American Public University, as well tuition discounts from the school. The largest retailer in the U.S. also pledged $50 million over three years to help cover workers' tuition and books above the discounted tuition rate, according to the Associated Press. The cost to employees will be $212.50 per undergraduate credit hour and $255 for graduate credits.
Members of the Saline Middle School Choir, employees and shoppers gather for the grand opening ceremony at the new Walmart in Pittsfield Township in October 2009
Angela Cesare | AnnArbor.com
"We wanted to create a new way of thinking about what we call associate development," Tom Mars, Walmart chief administrative officer said, adding the program stems from a growing commitment to foster talent from within the company.
The company also announced it will commit $50 million over three years to help workers pay for books and tuition above the reduced tuition rate. After the reduction, tuition will cost $212.50 per undergraduate credit hour and $255 for graduate credits.
According to an American Public University press release, the for-profit online college offers more than 100 online certificate and degree programs, and its enrollment tops 70,000 adult learners. Programs range from the liberal arts to management to homeland security.
Are you a Walmart or Sam's Club employee who will take advantage of the program? E-mail higher education reporter Juliana Keeping at julianakeeping@annarbor.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Juliana Keeping covers higher education for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at julianakeeping@annarbor.com or 734-623-2528. Follow Juliana Keeping on Twitter
Comments
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Tue, Jun 8, 2010 : 8:01 p.m.
Snapshot: You are correct--you cannot get a baccalaureate at most (but not all) CCs. So to complete a degree the student would have to go somewhere other than WCC. But you have chosen the most expensive and one of the best public universities in the country as a point of comparison. APU/AMU is nowhere close in either category. Its entire program is on-line, which is itself problematic, though this ought to allow it to cut costs because it has almost no infrastructure to maintain and pays a pittance to its instructors, the vast majority of whom are adjuncts. But APU's undergraduate tuition is actually higher than EMU's, which is $238/credit hour. And at EMU, for that $238, you get a real live professor in a classroom if you want one. Not an option at APU. You get a library. You get labs, etc... In other words, you get a university, not its electronic facsimile. And more important, I think, is that Wal Mart's "generous" program does not give its employees a choice of which school they'd like to attend. The employee will still bear the majority of the cost of their education but, in order to receive Wal Mart's niggardly support (look it up before anyone stupidly yells "racist"), they must agree to go to the school Wal Mart has chosen for them. Talk about Big Brother! Good Night and Good Luck
snapshot
Tue, Jun 8, 2010 : 5:55 p.m.
Ghost, you can't get a 4 year, or graduate degree at WCC. How much is tuition at UofM or Eastern. I think UofM graduate fees are something in the neighborhood of $400.00 a unit hour. Please correct me if my facts are in error.
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Tue, Jun 8, 2010 : 10:17 a.m.
More on APU: Its undergraduate tuition is $250/credit hour. Wal-Mart is underwriting employee tuition so that it costs only $212. All I can say is WOW!!! Amazing generosity out of one of the planet's richest corporations toward some of the nation's worst paid employees. Good Night and Good Luck
ladydi
Tue, Jun 8, 2010 : 9:50 a.m.
@stunhsif this is NOT good news! It is another ploy by the Walton clan to make more money off their already underpaid employees! I just graduated from WCC and @Edward R Murrow's Ghost, you are SO right... WCC is one of the finest CCs in the country and the fastest growing. I am now a junior in college, obtaining my BBA and I know that people KNOW who WCC is. Do these Wal-Mart employees really believe that they have good job opportunities with a degree from an online "university" that NO ONE has heard of? What a rip-off and an insult to every Wal-Mart employee!
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Tue, Jun 8, 2010 : 9:27 a.m.
For student comments on American Public University, go to: http://www.onlinedegreereviews.org/college/american-public-university-american-military-university-reviews/ Not very impressive. But it is a private, for-profit school. So I guess this is a good indication of what will happen when we turn our public education system over to for-profit companies: high-priced and low-quality education. Good Night and Good Luck
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Tue, Jun 8, 2010 : 9:10 a.m.
Cost to employees to attend the ONLY school Wal-Mart is "underwriting" = $212 per credit hour. Wonder what the Walton connection is to that school? Cost of WCC (in county) = $80 in district/$131 out of district Why would any sane person pay $212/credit hour when they could pay $80/credit hour to attend one of the finest CCs in the state if not in the nation? This is a great public relations ploy, period. Clearly, some have swallowed it--hook, line, and sinker. Not surprised.
stunhsif
Mon, Jun 7, 2010 : 11:06 p.m.
Ok Ann Arbor Libs, how do you put bad spin on this good news. Wal-Mart is not Satan as most of you like to say! BTW Eric Meyers, Wal-Mart in Saline is hiring.
ERIC MEYERS
Mon, Jun 7, 2010 : 5:15 p.m.
To bad they are not Hiring anyone.I have to wonder why ann arbor.com is doing a story about this when no Jobs are availible.