Great story, and it's awesome that Columbia offers free tuition for employees; Harvard doesn't. It's also great that he wants to go on for a Ph.D. in Classics, but at least he's not paying for it, because I have the feeling that he's still going to be a janitor with his Ph.D. in Classics.
UF allows employees to take 6 free credits (including graduate!) credits a semester for free. It's a shame so few people actually take advantage of that.
Most of the colleges in the Boston area (Harvard excepted) have full tuition waivers for employees, their spouses, and dependents. My wife's cousin worked for Northeastern University, and his 2 children earned their degrees for nothing more than the cost of books.
Note that the subject of the story graduated from Columbia's School of General Studies, which is specifically intended for non-traditional students. In some respects, it is like Harvard Extension School; in fact, it was once known as "University Extension". A bachelor's degree from the Columbia School of General Studies is not identical to one from Columbia College, just as a degree from the Harvard Extension School is not identical to one from Harvard College. Columbia SGS, unlike Harvard Extension, does not have open admissions; standardized tests are required, and most applicants are rejected. However, it is probably still easier to get into SGS than to Columbia's other undergraduate schools. The SGS program is also quite expensive, although in this case tuition was waived because the student was also an employee.
It's true that Harvard does not offer completely free tuition to employees, but their Tuition Assistance Plan (TAP) does offer some pretty impressive discounts. Seems like $40 per class at the Extension School, or 90% off at other Harvard schools, is still a significant benefit. Apparently TAP can also be used at other schools in some situations.
The way I read that, the program doesn't extend to Harvard College (undergrad), which is where most employees would interested for their children. If I can score a post-retirement job with one of the Boston colleges that have free undergrad tuition for employee dependents, I'll save a holy fortune.
Since were getting technical, HArvard Extension classes are open admission- the degree programs are not.
Insert my plug for Tuition Scholarship Exchange. 600 participating schools, it's a reciprocity program for employees/spouses/dependent children. I have 1 friend who earned her (free) BA in Art from Augustana College in Rock Island (cha-ching) while her mom was a cook and my husband (fingers crossed) will take a full time faculty position this fall with a school allowing our 4 children tuition (up to 100% off) and me to earn countless degrees.
OK, true enough. The point I was trying to make was simply that admission to a degree program at the Columbia School of General Studies is probably more difficult than admission to a degree program at the Harvard Extension School. Applicants to SGS need to provide standardized test scores, and most applicants are rejected. Not sure that either point applies to applicants for Harvard Extension degrees.
I have my eyes on Boston University, Boston College, and Northeastern University; all those schools have 100% free tuition for employees, spouses, and dependents. I will hopefully be done with my doctorate and likely "degreed out" by then, but the thought of free tuition for my twins is VERY appealing!!! All those schools also have large campus police departments, and campus PD's like to hire retired city police officers since they're already academy certified, their "hard charger" days are over, and they're not looking to move on to greener pastures like young officers. I would gladly shake doorknobs on the midnight shift for 4 years if both my kids could earn free college degrees from any of those schools.
Nice! That's quite an opportunity and kudos to him for taking full advantage of it! I get no tuition benefit at all from my university employer. In fact, I'd have to pay full price to even just audit a course :saeek:
Geesh....even the University of Phoenix offers a 50% tuition discount for employees and spouses, which then makes for affordable tuition. :slaphappy:
The reason why Columbia SGS seams to be more difficult is because their standards are not explicit. The mystery of whether you have the credentials necessary to get in gives some the impression that the school is more selective. For Harvard, any applicant knows exactly what the requirements are to get in and whether they qualify. A person who knows that he doesn't meet the qualifications won't bother applying. Applicants to Harvard Extension have to pass 3 Harvard courses for admission. You would THINK that this would be a pretty easy hurdle to overcome, however I know of more people that attempted and MISSED this requirement and never bothered formally applying than people who were actually admitted into the program. The courses are just hard, not all of them, but enough to make admission difficult. For instance, there are over 13,000 people who take classes at Harvard Extension, but only 2600 are degree candidates. Of those, HES graduates a little over 700 a year. I know from personal experience that the majority of folks in all of my CS classes at HES were either hoping to get into the degree program or already in the degree program. I only bring this up to illustrate that sometimes comparisons really are apples to oranges, and just because admission standards are explicit does not make them lower.
In my case, I can tell you why I'm not a "degree candidate," it's because I don't have 10 grand to go take my proseminar (application requirement). I'll continue racking up my 6 "DL option" courses -PAYING CASH since aid is not available to non-degree candidates- and at some point, hopefully, I'll be in a situation to take the proseminar. At that point, I can apply and then I'll just have to figure out how to spend a 16 week semester for my "field" course. IF I can jump those hurdles, I'll have to figure out how to conduct original research so I can prepare a thesis. Piece of cake. <huge sarcasm>