Starbucks Will Send Thousands of Employees to Arizona State for Degrees

This is a "win-win" situation, but it is interesting to note that, despite some associations with Capella, ASU was chosen because Starbucks "needed the legitimacy of not only an online university but one that also had a long history."

Starbucks Will Send Thousands of Employees to Arizona State for Degrees - Administration - The Chronicle of Higher Education

 

I agree. There will be many who will find some fault in this and say "they are creating overqualified individuals" but the main message here is that Starbucks is providing opportunity that does not directly link back to a return on their part. Kudos SBUX.

 

I think this is a great idea because those employees without Bachelor degree have a chance to excel themselves. Nobody want to brew coffee everyday for the rest of his or her live.

 

Another factor that probably made ASU more attractive is the variety of degree options.

ASU is a large, traditional, nationally-ranked university. Schools like that generally make an effort to provide coverage of all important fields of human knowledge (the word "university" has the same root as "universal").

Capella, on the other hand, is a large, non-traditional, for-profit university. Schools like that commonly "cherry-pick" a handful of professionally-oriented fields that will be popular and provide a high ROI. According to College Navigator, Capella undergraduates have basically just five general degree options:

- Business
- Computer science/IT
- Healthcare
- Law enforcement/security
- Psychology

That's not exactly "universal". But such limited offerings are typical among for-profit online schools (exception: APUS).

ASU Online, on the other hand, offers around 40 different undergraduate degree programs -- and if that's still not enough, they will let you design your own "Interdisciplinary Studies" major. ASU offers everything that Capella does, plus other fields as diverse as Art History, English, Film, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Religious Studies, Operations Management, and Electrical Engineering. There is no doubt that a Starbucks barista will get far more educational options from ASU than from Capella.

 

In fact, the linked news story notes that APUS has previously cut a similar deal with another very large employer, Wal-Mart (this deal was also covered at degreeinfo). However, the Wal-Mart/APUS partnership apparently has not resulted in as many new enrollments as expected:

 

And no wonder! The Starbuck's/ASU deal is much more affordable for employees. Starbuck's picks up about 3/4 of the tab.

As I remember it, the Walmart/APUS deal is considerably more expensive for employees. Beats me how someone working for Walmart's subsistence-level wages can afford any portion of the program. Kudos to those brave souls who bit the bullet, tightened their belts and signed up anyway. Walmart should have been paying the whole tab - they can afford it!

And while I'm on the topic - Walmart has a lot of stores in Canada. They should have the program here - for a Canadian school. AND they should be paying the whole tab.

Johann

 

Does ASU offer a degree in Frappuccino Science?

 

Not surprisingly, Wal-Mart did what it does best: negotiate with vendors for discounts.

But is that low enough? Some are skeptical:

On the other hand, one aspect of the deal is that APUS provides significant credit for Wal-Mart work experience:

There could be substantial cost savings from that approach. The downside is that it could also "lock" students into APUS. One critic put it like this:

Overall, I have to agree that the Starbucks offering looks like the better benefit for employees.

 

No. However, APU offers a "Bachelor of Arts in Retail Management" that is specifically tailored to Wal-Mart employees.

 

Wal-Mart typically negotiates with multiple vendors. They apparently gave serious consideration to University of Maryland University College, as well as APU. But according to UMUC President Susan Aldridge, UMUC was uncomfortable with the terms that Wal-Mart wanted, from both financial and academic standpoints:

Is she suggesting that a "Bachelor of Arts in Retail Management" degree, with 45% of the credit awarded by working at Wal-Mart, might not be perceived as academically credible in all quarters ?

 

No - it definitely isn't. Especially on Wal-Mart wages.

Unfortunately, 100% true - and now it's a $1.2 billion problem. Again, how does one repay on Wal-Mart wages? Oh, right. Your $24,000 degree in Retail Management will get you a big raise... :smile: :smile:

Johann

 

But wouldn't a degree give the Walmart employee the means to advance to a higher paying position? Department, store, or district manager? That should be a significant raise in pay, I would think.

 

Might. But how many positions? And for how long?

That's how retail works. Especially low-end retail. No --make that all retail. When the chopper has to come down, as it often does, there's sometimes a formula. Years ago, I read that K-Mart ran their "purges" according to one - 40 40 and 20. They were said to zero in on managers aged 40+, making $40K+ a year (at the time) and having 20+ years of service. There was quite a press to-do about it at the time.

If Wal-Mart had a significant number of successful degree-earners - I think it would give them a superfluity of highly-qualified internal applicants for each available non-grunt job. Just the way the company would like it, I'm sure. And the deal isn't that great, that it would cost the company all that much. I speculate that it probably wouldn't mean much in income to the bulk of the scholars/stackers/sorters... they could still be cheaply replaced, degree or not.

Bargain for Wal-Mart. Maybe not so much, for the employees.

Johann

 

A little more clarification on who picks up the cost....

In Deal With Starbucks, Arizona State U. Kicks In Substantial Aid - Administration - The Chronicle of Higher Education

 

Turns out that there is a huge downside to the Starbucks/ASU deal. ABC News has uncovered the shocking truth:

Obviously Starbucks and ASU need to re-design their program, possibly by bringing in Heineken as another partner.

 

Seems like a sweet deal. I've always liked ASU.

 

Thanks! This sheds a lot of light. The original article (Post #1) said "with the coffee company picking up about three-quarters of the tuition tab."

That inaccurate statement led to my inaccurate statement, "the Starbucks deal is much more affordable for employees. Starbuck's picks up about 3/4 of the tab."

Now, we know the far less-attractive truth. :sad:

Johann

 

I don't really get why this is even happening. Why is ASU giving preferential treatment to baristas at SB's? I'm glad they are getting access to a big name education...but who chose these recipients? Does the world really need a bunch of 4 year degree holding coffee artists?

If ASU is bearing the brunt of the cost why not make the deal for Boy/Girl Scouts, veterinarians, nurses, carpenters, (pick the group)....who couldn't see an increase in completion with added financial incentives?

I don't fully understand these alliances. SNHU has their new "College for America" plan that also requires the employer to be involved before the student can register. What is the incentive from the school for such a partnership...especially if they are heavily subsidizing the programs?