Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced a program Thursday in which its workers can receive college credit from the online American Public University and receive a tuition discount from the school.
The company also said it will commit $50 million over three years to help workers pay for books and tuition above the reduced tuition rate.
After the reduction, tuition will cost $212.50 per undergraduate credit hour and $255 for graduate credits.
Wal-Mart Chief Administrative Officer Tom Mars said the program grew out of a commitment to cultivate talent within the company.
The plan is open to domestic workers at Walmart and Sam's Club stores.
"We wanted to create a new way of thinking about what we call associate opportunity," Mars said.
Alicia Ledlie, Wal-Mart senior director for associate development, said nearly three-quarters of the company's workers contacted in a survey said they preferred online study to attending a local college.
Ledlie said Wal-Mart looked at 81 colleges, including brick-and-mortar schools, and found American Public University, based in Charles Town, W.Va., to be the best fit.
Sara Martinez Tucker, a former U.S. undersecretary of education who is on Wal-Mart's external advisory council, said the company would have had to form a tremendous coalition of schools to offer a similar program through local community colleges and universities.
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