On my last article, How FedEx Tuition Reimbursement Helps You Graduate Debt-Free, I complained about how mad I was to hear FedEx employees get college tuition paid when I used to work for Amazon. This is because when I drove for the company, I was told there was no Amazon tuition reimbursement. So, I decided to do some research and learned Amazon employees get tuition coverage nowadays.
I used to work for Amazon six years ago or so, driving their big blue prime vans. Going back to college, was a necessity after I started having a nerve issue on my left thigh at nights. I could not sleep at all, because of the pain. I needed tuition assistance so badly in order to go to school and change career.
At the time, there was no such thing as tuition assistance for the Amazon DSP I worked for. I asked and the supervisors did not know about college tuition assistance. So, I had to pay for the certified surgical technology program out of pocket.
As an Amazon driver then, I was paid $14.25 per hour driving those vans and delivering to 250 to 290 residences per day. The wage rate was a little difficult paying for tuition and necessary life expenses. But, I managed to do it.
Do not get me wrong. It was one of the best jobs I ever had. This is because it gave me a degree of independence at work, where I am on my own making decisions. What I liked about it best, was the absence of workplace drama or toxic coworkers!
If you are currently working for Amazon right now, the condition is better than when I worked for the company. I even heard drivers can make at least $17 to $19 per hour now. Amazon pays for employees to go to college. This includes young working class adults working for the company who are trying to go back to school.
On this article, I am going to work you step by step through its reimbursement program. Having said that, here is what I want you to know about the Amazon college reimbursement.
Who Qualifies For It?
Amazon tuition support is one of the ways to graduate college debt free. For us to qualify though, we have to work for Amazon. By working for Amazon, I do not mean the seasonal jobs where Amazon lets us deliver packages in our own cars.
Amazon wants us to be full time or part-time workers to qualify for Amazon employee tuition assistance. It does not matter what the jobs positions are. Simply put, you could be a prime van driver like I was or a warehouse worker, and you will still qualify for Amazon to pay for your college tuition.
So, you need to get your feet in as a full time or part-time worker. Then, meet the other requirements which I am going to talk about somewhere in this article. Speaking of getting your feet in first, here is what you need to know about age requirement with respect to working for Amazon.
How Old Do You Have To Be To Work At Amazon?
All Amazon jobs require you are at least the age of eighteen. Now, some of the job positions require you to be more than the age of eighteen. I knew because when I was applied for a prime van driver position, the age of twenty-one was the prerequisite for the job.
Sounds like ageism, is it not?
But, it is not. I found it is a way to keep insurance cost low for transport companies. I do not know if you had tried to get a car insurance as a young adult, the insurance cost is outrageous. Additionally, some state and federal laws require people to be 21 and above for interstate transport. I suppose they assume there is a lot of liability with young adults.
Do not fret though.
You can still take advantage of the Amazon education benefits, if you are younger than 21 years of old. The company has warehouse jobs, corporate or its fulfillment centers where you can work. The positions there are usually full time or part-time.
Each status is enough to get you qualified. This is as long as you meet other eligibility requirements. I am going to talk about them more below.
Amazon Tuition Assistance Requirements
Besides the previously mentioned age requirement, there are other Amazon tuition assistance eligibility requirements. Getting our feet into the company is great, but Amazon wants to make sure it is retaining us. This is since people tend to bounce after they have graduated from college.
Other HR departments tend to have issue with it. Amazon does not mind you leaving after taking advantage of its Amazon employee tuition reimbursement program. Especially when Amazon does not have a job position for what you studied in college.
Before I digress from the point I am trying to make, below is what I want you to know about Amazon tuition reimbursement eligibility requirements.
- We need to commit to 90 days of employment to qualify. Simply put, Amazon tuition benefits start after 90 days of employment.
- You either have to be a full time or part-time employee. I mentioned this fact earlier.
- The college or university you want to go to, must be part of Amazon career choice program. I will be talking about the career choice thing later in the article. It is like Chipotle’s tuition assistance program: Guild Program, which connects workers to colleges or universities offering education benefits or discounts.
- The education benefits are for warehouse, delivery employees, corporate and associated branches.
When Amazon says warehouse and delivery employees, I want you to know seasonal employees are not included. You have to be part-time or full time to qualify for the assistance. I supposed Amazon dd this as a way to make sure they are not investing in workers who would not be staying long with the company.
Speaking of working for Amazon full time or part-time to qualify for its tuition reimbursement, the hours are quite specific. You can still work part-time, but if you are not hitting the minimum hours considered part-time, you will not be eligible. I have noticed this is a common pattern with jobs offering tuition reimbursement.
Amazon Career Choice: Pathways and What You Get
Remember when I mentioned about Chipotle’s Guild program?
Amazon has a similar program called career choice. It is a platform which matches its employees to majors and colleges of their choices. But, these colleges and universities must be partnered with Amazon to provide tuition benefits to eligible Amazon employees. This is basically what Amazon career choice is.
It is a pipeline for churning out graduates. As eligible Amazon employees, we have a lifetime as access to it. This is regardless of how many academic degrees we have acquired working for the retail giant.
How Does Amazon Career Choice Program Work
The program offers four career pathways. Firstly, it is us going through the colleges and universities in partnership with career choice. So, what college degrees will Amazon pay for?
It will pay for us to acquire associate degree, Batchelor degree or certifications. It could be from a college or university. This is as long as the school is partnered with career choice.
Secondly, the other is called Pathways. This is for employees who want to study industrial certifications. It includes certifications like HVAC, CDL or any other certifications.
Amazon claims the most studied industrial certifications in this category are transportation, healthcare and technology. Examples of the latter include IT and commercial driver license and training. I feel like this is for people who want to continue to working for Amazon, but want to level up in the workplace for better pay and lifestyle.
Thirdly, Amazon has a coaching pathway. If you are already in a career and need coaching, applying for that will get you a mentor. Also, I recommend this one for people eyeing a position or need help getting acquainted with a new position. You can get career coaching and advising which help you be at what God intends you be.
Lastly, the program has a foundational pathway for people who did not complete high school or trying to learn English as a second language This is called Foundations. The program offers GED programs, high school completion and English proficiency training.
So whatever level you want to start academically, Amazon career choice seems to have you covered. This is why I advocate young working class adults taking advantage of it. You can simply go work for Amazon part-time and take its education benefits to change your life.
How To Enroll In Amazon Career Choice
As I previously mentioned, you cannot qualify until 90 days of employment. So after the probation period is over, go online and login to Amazon A to Z portal. Then, do exactly what I am going to talk about enrolling in Amazon career choice.
- On the Amazon A to Z portal, go to career choice. It will show whether you have qualified for eligibility or not. After 90 days, it should show you are eligible for Amazon tuition coverage.
- Go through the colleges or universities in partnership with the career choice program. If there is a particular school you want to go, you can look it up there too. Amazon partners with more than 180 school in the US and over 400 worldwide.
- Apply to the school and program you are interested in studying. Most career choice partners have advisors. I say to work with these academic advisors. They will walk you through the process. Advisors can help you register for classes too.
- Once classes are registered, the next thing to do is to set up your career choice payment on the same Amazon A to Z portal. The advisor I mentioned above, could help you out with this. Or else, you can go to the career choice section to disburse tuition payment.
Here are additional things I want you to know about initiating payment for classes every semester.
So, we have to initiate payment before the semester starts every single time. Otherwise, we will end up paying the tuition out of pocket. Trust me, you do not want to do that. This is given tuition in the United States is ridiculously outrageous.
There is no GPA requirement for tuition disbursement every semester. You just need to initiate it. As long as you maintain full time or part-time status, you have access to it for a lifetime. Finally, the tuition is paid directly to the school. You will not have access to it.
How Much Does Amazon Career Choice Pay?
Amazon career choice will pay up to $5250 annually towards your tuition. However, this depends on whether you are a full time or part-time worker. What do I mean by this, my dear reader?
Amazon pays up to $2,625 per year for part-time employees. Full time workers get the full $5250 Amazon tuition benefits. This is the most you can get in a year towards your education. This is right on the IRS limit for tuition reimbursement. Anything more than that will get taxed.
I elaborated about IRS limit on tuition assistance on Is Tuition Reimbursement Taxable? – A Working Class Perspective. Have you read it yet?
Anyways, the above is all you are going to be getting from Amazon. If your tuition is going to be more than that, you may want to apply for federal student loans to help you with the rest. Or, you can just do pay the rest out of pocket like I did when I was in college.
Amazon Tuition Program vs Other Tuition Reimbursement Programs
Amazon tuition program is great, but I do not believe it is the best amongst jobs that offer education assistance. This is because I have written about others whose tuition assistance amount are higher than Amazon. But, I kinda like how Amazon career choice has a lifetime access for its employees.
Here is a comparison of other tuition reimbursement programs I have talked about and Amazon career choice tuition reimbursement.
| Jobs | Tuition reimbursement amount | Eligibility timeline | Programs covered | Tuition assistance platform | Post-graduate degree |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | $5250 for full time employees $2625 for part-time ones | 90 days of employment. Part-time or full time status | Any associate, Batchelor or certificated covered by partner schools. | Career choice | No |
| Chipotle | Up to $5250 a year. 100% tuition paid in some Agriculture, hospitality, culinary and logistics programs. | 120 days of employment. | Approved Programs | The Guild / Cultivate Education program | Yes |
| FedEx | $5250 tuition assistance. $4000 through UNCF / FedEx Scholarship. $9600 through TMCF | FedEx HBCU Scholarship. | 60 days of employment. senior high school and college freshman for its scholarships | Business degrees for its scholarship. A college degree, a trade, vocational or technical school | None. Just through the HR department | Yes |
I believe I attached to some guide links to each of the job I mentioned in this article. You can go and read them for more elaborated information on the jobs. I will update the table above whenever I write a new article on a job which offers tuition reimbursement, so that way you have a lot of options to choose from.
But yeah, Amazon is not the only one who offers education assistance. Personally, I do not think Chipotle cultivate education program is bad at all. This is since Chipotle can cover 100% of some majors, if you decide to work for them. That means you are graduating from college without a single cent of debt.
On the whole, it does not matter which company you decide to go with. What matters to me, is you working at a place which can help us get close to financial independence. Working a job is not the end goal, but using a job to strengthen our journey towards self discovery and self development is.
There are jobs out there, which will help you do this, and there are those who do not care. Personally, I advocate for young working class adults being selfish when it comes to choosing where they work. This is because it has an influence on whether you achieve your life goals sooner or later in life. Life is too short to waste on jobs that will not help us accomplish our life purpose and goals!
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