Researching tuition reimbursement impact on employees

I am considering putting together a proposal to use some available funds for tuition reimbursement. Since you are all smart people…. I thought I would see if anyone has some suggested research for me to look at.

I am hoping to find data that supports employee retention and satisfaction. Bonus points if it’s in an educational setting. We currently get $1500 a year. I’d love to see that increased to at least $5250.

 

Data is mixed, since tuition reimbursement can make people more employable. But here's a few sources from a quick search that support that it helps retention. Many of the studies out there are qualitative rather than quantitative:

The Analysis of Firms and Employees: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches (https://www.nber.org/system/files/chapters/c9116/c9116.pdf)
See page 13, participants in tuition reimbursement stayed longer than those who didn't. Also from the Lit Review in that chapter: "Arkes, Garcia, and Trost (2000) follow a cohort of enlistees who began service in 1992 and study the effect of participation on the probability of remaining with the Navy for at least six years. They find that participation increases the probability of staying in the Navy by nearly 13 percentage points."

The Effects of Tuition Reimbursement on Retention and Recruitment: A Cross Case Analysis, "A third finding illuminated from the employee data was that the tuition reimbursement program positively affected their decision to continue employment" (https://www.proquest.com/docview/875560956?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true)

The Effect of Employer Provided General Training on Turnover: Examination of Tuition Reimbursement Programs, "Results from both the case study and SEPT95 indicate that tuition reimbursement programs reduce turnover. Hence, the firm’s motivation for offering this program is supported by empirical evidence: general skills training increases retention." (https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/6386357.pdf)

You Paid for the Skills, Now Keep Them: Tuition Reimbursement and Voluntary Turnover, Academy of Management Journal "Data from 9,439 salaried employees of a large manufacturer show that participation in tuition reimbursement reduces turnover while employees are in school" (https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/20159584)

 

Thank you. I will look these over. It’s a major long shot… but worth a try.