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> Walmart, I think, would probably be doing better by their employees if they offered a more traditional tuition reimbursement plan By cutting deals with a few

> Walmart, I think, would probably be doing better by their employees if they offered a more traditional tuition reimbursement plan By cutting deals with a few institutions and offering mostly online programming, Walmart can keep prices way down. I suspect they do it this way because the equivalent value of the tuition reimbursement would be way too low for any of their low-level employees to actually afford the education.

lsc 8y ago
in California, community college tuition is on the order of a grand a year, full time (in state) - less if you are only going part time, which you probably would be, if you're working enough hours to get the walmart reimbursement. At those rates, the expensive part is the time off work, even when you are only making $11/hr. (I mean, employer reimbursement is still a nice gesture, every little bit counts.) I find it... unlikely that the private universities are cheaper than the community colleges. Now, your last two years, at a state school, in California are closer to six or seven grand a year, full time, so half that for your half-time plan, and that's a much bigger bite, but I still kinda wonder what kind of private school could do cheaper, though we're getting more realistic. In California, at least, if you go to any of our very good public schools, you will almost certainly be paying more just to keep yourself alive than you will be paying in tuition (which isn't to say I don't think we should subsidize them more; I'm just saying that most of the cost of going to california public schools is... living in California.)
- deleted 8y ago
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- throwawayjava 8y ago
  But this is for college tuition, not community college tuition, and California is very much the outlier. Also, this focuses on particular areas of need for Walmart: > Walmart will pay only for degrees in business and supply-chain management because those areas of study “will be relevant across the industry and for future work opportunities,” according to spokeswoman Erica Jones. They also cover books and supplies, which I imagine would be way more expensive without a single standardized curriculum across all of their employees.
  - lsc 8y ago
    I think community college in California is the best chance working adults have of getting into prestigious schools. My understanding is that you have a significantly better chance of getting into an undergrad program at Berkeley from community college than even the better California state colleges. Really, the options for working adults are mostly geared towards the remedial. Community college is one of the few options available to someone like me to get back on the prestigious school track.

lsc 8y ago

in California, community college tuition is on the order of a grand a year, full time (in state) - less if you are only going part time, which you probably would be, if you're working enough hours to get the walmart reimbursement. At those rates, the expensive part is the time off work, even when you are only making $11/hr. (I mean, employer reimbursement is still a nice gesture, every little bit counts.) I find it... unlikely that the private universities are cheaper than the community colleges. Now, your last two years, at a state school, in California are closer to six or seven grand a year, full time, so half that for your half-time plan, and that's a much bigger bite, but I still kinda wonder what kind of private school could do cheaper, though we're getting more realistic. In California, at least, if you go to any of our very good public schools, you will almost certainly be paying more just to keep yourself alive than you will be paying in tuition (which isn't to say I don't think we should subsidize them more; I'm just saying that most of the cost of going to california public schools is... living in California.)

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
throwawayjava 8y ago
But this is for college tuition, not community college tuition, and California is very much the outlier. Also, this focuses on particular areas of need for Walmart: > Walmart will pay only for degrees in business and supply-chain management because those areas of study “will be relevant across the industry and for future work opportunities,” according to spokeswoman Erica Jones. They also cover books and supplies, which I imagine would be way more expensive without a single standardized curriculum across all of their employees.
- lsc 8y ago
  I think community college in California is the best chance working adults have of getting into prestigious schools. My understanding is that you have a significantly better chance of getting into an undergrad program at Berkeley from community college than even the better California state colleges. Really, the options for working adults are mostly geared towards the remedial. Community college is one of the few options available to someone like me to get back on the prestigious school track.