Starbucks offers online college program to workers
Source: AP-Excite
By CANDICE CHOI
NEW YORK (AP) Starbucks is rolling out a program that would allow its workers to earn an online college degree at Arizona State University at a steeply discounted rate.
The coffee chain is partnering with the school to offer the option to 135,000 U.S. employees who work at least 20 hours a week. The Seattle-based company says it will phase out its existing tuition reimbursement program, which gave workers up to $1,000 a year for education at certain schools.
The company says the program doesn't require workers to stay at Starbucks after they earn their degrees. They can also pick from a wide range of educational programs that aren't related to their Starbucks work.
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is scheduled to announce the program Monday in New York City, with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and about 340 workers and their family members in attendance.
FULL story at link.
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140616/us-starbucks-education-f121df97ea.html
Pay them a living wage!!!
freshwest
(53,661 posts)...Besides offering no evidence for why $15 an hour would be bad for small businesses, Schultz also argued that any minimum wage increase in Seattle should be calculated by the "total compensation" an employee receives (such as health care, meals, and bus passes) and not merely the hourly wage. This idea of "total compensation" has been a contentious issue in the debate over the minimum wage in Seattle, and 15 Now advocates vehemently reject this idea, claiming that such an approach would undermine the very meaning of a "minimum wage" and would open the window for employers to manipulate the law to their advantage.
Schultz is currently the highest paid CEO in the Northwest and in 2012 received a staggering $28.9 million from Starbucks. For comparison, the average pay for a Barista at Starbucks in 2012 was just $8.79 an hour, or about $17,580 a year for 40 hours work a week (minus two weeks unpaid vacation). Based on his previous year's earnings, Schultz would have had to work just 1.2 hours to earn what the average Starbucks barista makes in an entire year. That's about 1,644 times as much per year as the average worker. This sort of disparity is, to put it mildly, shocking...
It is clear that Schultz's advocacy on behalf of small businesses is nothing more than an attempt to use them as a pawn to secure continued record profits for his company. Cynically hiding behind small businesses while paying your employees unsustainably low wages is not all right, and 15 Now activists are demanding that Schultz immediately raise the minimum wage of his employees to $15 an hour. After all, even he admits Starbucks can afford it...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-blueher/15-now-to-starbuckss-ceo-_b_5153885.html
PSPS
(13,713 posts)The business model for these so-called "schools" is to merely sign someone up based solely on their ability to qualify for a federally-backed student loan. They'll get your "tuition" (and Starbucks, its commission) one way or another regardless of your "progress."
As a rule, no real company takes "diplomas" from these outfits seriously especially if others applying for the job have a degree from a real school. Despite what one sees on the TEE VEE, you don't "go to school" at home in your underwear.
enlightenment
(8,830 posts)but ASU is a public university.
alp227
(32,206 posts)those big companies will do anything & everything to distract from their shitty wages.
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)Sorry about your tuition assistance at the school you're actually attending, but we basically got you a groupon to a poorly regarded party school. That's just as good, right?
olddad56
(5,732 posts)I think Starbucks is on to a great way to help it's employees afford and attend college. I would imagine that more corporations and schools will follow suit. For working people, online classes from an accredited university is a practical alternative to physically attending the school.
My son just graduated from high school, but he was able to skip the first year of high school calculus last summer by using MIT's open course-ware to learn the material. He got a high A his senior year in second year calculus, so it obviously didn't hurt him. One of the reasons he didn't take it at high school was the teacher for that class was a dud.
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)An occasional online course is a handy thing. My sister took one through some midwestern state college when a math class she needed proved impossible to schedule at her school. But the online courses one can transfer to their local school are generally limited to those offered by a few institutions (thus why my sister wound up paying through the nose to take a math class from Flyover U online) of sufficient rigor and I'm sure for many schools ASU online won't cut it.
For those who want to do an entirely online program the name and reputation of the school matter if they want to apply to another school later, or transfer their courses to a different program, or when they're applying for a job that doesn't involve foam art.
olddad56
(5,732 posts)I have a friend who is going to Penn State online. He can take any of the classes he wants on the campus. Since he works full time, it is just easier now for him to take the classes online for now. For some, it is just easier to take the classes online.