Walmart $1 A Day College Tuition Plan

Walmart’s $1 A Day College Plan

Want to earn a BA degree in Business or Supply Chain Management without incurring any student loan debt?  Head on over to Walmart and put in an application. The company will pick up the tab for the tuition if you’ve been employed at the company for at least 90 days.

Starting now, all 1.4 million Walmart and Sam’s Club associates (the Walmart term for employees) in the US have the opportunity to earn what’s basically a free university degree.

Walmart associates are only required to spend around $1 day or $30 month toward the degree. If they do that Walmart will cover the rest of the cost including tuition, books, and fees. Right now they aren’t covering computers and software. However, they are currently exploring that possibility.

Walmart & Guild Partner to Reduce College Tuition Costs

Walmart is offering the $30 per month bachelor’s degrees in partnership with Guild, an education-based startup that’s helping companies provide their employees with education as a benefit. Guild’s coaches (i.e. academic counselors) will work with the Walmart employees to help them figure out the best path to their degree and help them ensure that their studies won’t interfere with work.

Walmart employees will complete all the coursework online and earn a bachelor’s degree in either Business or Supply Chain Management from the University of Florida, Brandman University, or Bellevue University. All three universities are non-profit and the University of Florida is a public institution that has been located in Gainesville, Florida since 1906.

Walmart chose these three universities because they have good graduation rates and extensive experience working with adult learners.

The upshot of this new Walmart employee benefit is that the company’s employees can earn a bachelor’s degree from an accredited, non-profit university without saddling themselves with tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt.

Even if you’re not that excited about the idea of a degree in Business or Supply Chain Management, it’s still a way to obtain a university education at very minimal cost. In fact, at $30 per month, you could argue that it’s as close to a free college degree as anything that exists.

All you need to do to qualify is work for Walmart while you’re in school. If you study year-round that’s only $360 pet year for tuition at an accredited, non-profit university, which is basically the cost of a single credit at any legitimate school where you’d pay for tuition yourself.

What If I Leave Walmart Before Completing My Degree?

Wait. It gets even better. If at some point you decide working for Walmart isn’t for you and leave the company before completing the degree, you don’t need to pay anything back, which is a pretty generous offer considering the company will have invested in you without seeing any real return.

In addition to the virtually-free bachelor’s degrees, Walmart also offers their employees the chance to earn associate degrees and even college credit for paid training completed at Walmart Academies. All of the programs are available online and employees can sign up for the Walmart educational benefits here.

Classes start on a monthly basis so there’s no need to wait until the traditional beginning of the school year in September.  However, remember that you’ll need to have been employed by Walmart or Sam’s Club for at least 90 days before applying.

If this sounds enticing, but you’d like to learn more before applying, be sure to check out this interview with Guild’s CEO.

Disclaimer:Information obtained from Forget Student Loan Debt is for educational purposes only. You should consult a licensed financial professional before making any financial decisions. This site receives some compensation through affiliate relationships. This site is not endorsed or affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education.