Why You Should Ask Your Boss about Employer Tuition Reimbursement

Employer Education Support Options

For most employers that do support providing education opportunities to their employees they typically will offer some amount of tuition reimbursement. Some employers will offer to pay for your degree for free. However, there are some strings attached such as a commitment on your part to stay with the organization for at least a certain amount of time. Some employers will offer to pay up to a certain amount in educational compensation, which still will save the employee a good deal of money in tuition costs.

“Tuition reimbursement benefits are available at most organizations, but unfortunately these programs are widely under used,” says Brandon Pagani, Learning Solutions Manager for Colorado State University-Global Campus which currently has over 400 organizational affiliations. “Using this benefit to complete a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or certificate can advance an employee’s marketability in their chosen field while exploring new career options or areas of interest. In speaking with hundreds of employees at in a wide variety of professional settings, the most common concerns with going back to school while employed are time and cost. Universities must offer both flexibility and affordability to these professional students to earn their trust and their business.”

Why Your Employer Might Do It

Most organizations know that their long-term success depends on having educated, motivated, and dedicated employees. In today’s fast-changing world, company’s needs are constantly changing and evolving. To keep up with these changes some universities will work with organizations to design programs specifically for their needs, ensuring their employees get a valuable education.

You might wonder why a company would offer to do this. At first glance, it seems like a lot of money to pay and what if the employee leaves once they get their degree? While this is certainly a risk for employers, a lot of employees don’t leave upon earning their degree on their employer’s dime. If the company retains an employee once they earn their degree, they become a valuable asset to the company. It can also be an attractive benefit when hiring new employees, especially in certain industries where there is a deficit of qualified employees.

In a report by Peter Cappelli, he found that offering to pay for school for employees created longer employee retention, which can cut down on recruiting and training costs, as well as any losses in institutional knowledge. Most employees only go to school part-time, so they stick around a while, which is less money the employer spends in the long run because the hiring process actually costs quite a bit of money.

If you don’t think your employer offers financial assistance, odds are they actually do. Or they have a relationship with a university where their employees can receive a discounted tuition rate. The IRS allows employers to deduct just over $5,000 for each employee they offer tuition reimbursement.

It’s a great deal if your organization offers this. If you’re curious as to whether or not your organization has this kind of arrangement ask someone in your human resources department. If they don’t currently have such an arrangement, it never hurts to suggest it. Plus, when you are looking for your next job, learning about the professional development opportunities the company offers, like earning your degree, is something you should consider as a primary benefit along with salary and retirement contributions.