Dive Brief:
- Arizona State University has admitted about 1,800 of 2,000 Starbucks employees who applied for the subsidized college education offered by the latte-serving giant.
- Some 1,000 employees will start classes next week, and two-thirds of them will start as juniors or seniors, which makes them eligible for full tuition reimbursement.
- Starbuck says job applications have risen significantly since the program was announced in June, with 8,000 applicants citing the benefit as their reason for applying, the Seattle Times reported.
Dive Insight:
Reimbursement begins once a student has completed 21 credit hours, so it’s difficult to estimate how much the program will cost Starbucks. Also, the university is expected to cover 42% of the $30,000 two-year tuition cost, and federal grants for low-income students will absorb some of the cost. Almost half of the employees starting classes this month are baristas, and a little more than one third of them are shift supervisors. The states supplying the most Starbucks students are California, Washington, Arizona, Texas, Florida, and Illinois, and the most popular majors are psychology, organizational leadership, health sciences, mass communications and media studies, and English.