Employees of Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores can receive college credit for restocking shelves. Wal-Mart has arranged a higher education program through a big-box online college, American Public University. Employees may be awarded “life experience” credit that can be applied towards an Associate Degree.
Wal-Mart imports much of its stock from Asia, so it is fitting that the store’s university has “more than 600 faculty members teaching from around the world ….” Perhaps the Chancellor is Professor Rollback.
Employees will pay $212.50 to $255 per credit hour, and Wal-Mart will kick in $50 million above that towards books and tuition. APU normally charges $750 to $900 per credit hour.
More:
Wal-Mart, American Public University partner to offer affordable employee college plan,” Nick Klopsis, New York Daily News.
“Aisle 3 for diplomas,” Kevin Brooker, Calgary Herald.
“Wal-Mart’s New Plan to Educate and Retain Employees,” Katie Leavitt, Tonic.com
“Wal-Mart to Offer Its Workers a College Program,” By Stephanie Clifford and Stephanie Rosenbloom, New York Times.
“Wal-Mart University? Really?” Community Dean Dad, BlogU
“Wal-Mart launches employee college plan,” Chuck Bartels, AP, via USA Today.
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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Tags: college, colleges, higher education, Sam's Club, universities, university, Wal-Mart, Walmart
June 9, 2010 at 11:09 pm
[...] favorite outsourcing retailer has chosen a school for its employees that outsources too. Here (via NotionsCapital) is one of the “Benefits of choosing APU”: “APU has nearly 200 full-time and more [...]