Getting Your Employer
To Pay For Your Online Degree

Since most online degree seekers are adults in the work force, getting an employer to pay for school is a very popular strategy for this group. In fact, according to a survey by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), almost one-third of corporate tuition reimbursements now fund online or “blended” school programs.

Making Committments
As with a scholarship, aid from an employer is “free money,” or at least it’s almost free money. Employers generally won’t ask you to pay them back for tuition assistance, but they will often ask you to keep working for them for several years after your schooling is over. Getting a degree that will help you change careers usually won’t earn you support from an employer. Most companies will only pay for school that boosts your qualifications for the job you are already doing for them, or for something they are thinking of promoting you into. Don’t expect to get reimbursed for art history courses.

Ask Human Resources
You’ll want to make sure to speak to the Human Resources officer at your company to find out exactly what you can and cannot get tuition reimbursement for. Keep in mind that you should not be at any disadvantage asking for help with an online degree program. Employers have a very real interest in making sure their employees have the skills they need to be successful. It’s a lot more expensive and frankly, a lot more troublesome to bring in new hires than to keep good people in the company, and most companies are aware that they’ll have a better chance of keeping you if you are relying on them to pay for your degree. If you work for a large company, make sure to ask if your employer has a partnership with any particular college or university, either online or traditional. It many be easier for you to get reimbursement for a university degree online at a "partner" school than with other institutions.

Expect that you’ll have to stay for at least a year after completing your degree to qualify for employer tuition reimbursement, and that the course of study will need to clearly relate to your job. While most companies are more willing to fund education for full-time employers, being a part-timer doesn’t necessarily mean you will be shut out. Some large companies offer a flat tuition benefit of a few thousand dollars a year to part-timers, even if they don’t cover the full tuition bill. You may have to work for the company for several years before you can qualify for this type of benefit.

Inventing Your Own Program
You can often win even if your employer doesn’t have a formal tuition reimbursement program. To convince your employer that they should pay for your school, talk to your boss about how much more productive you will be at work if you improve your skills through education. Make it clear that studying on a part time basis, particularly in an online school, will not take any of your focus off your present job. Rehearse what you are going to say before you sit down with your boss or HR director to talk about this. Think through how your new degree will make you a better employee and make a clear, organized presentation to your employer.

Back Your Degree With A Contract
Don’t be surprised if your employer asks you to sign a tuition reimbursement contract before getting any grants for college. It’s a reasonable request. Key issues you need to understand before signing such a contract are:

• Your commitment level. Don’t sign a contract that asks you to live up to impossible terms or stay more than a few years with the company.
• How will your tuition be paid? Increasingly sophisticated online schools now offer direct payment options for employers to reimburse them for your schooling. But some companies will want to deduct your educational costs from your paycheck and then pay it back to you later. Make sure you understand the terms in this critical area.
• Academic standards: Make sure you know what grade average you must maintain to keep getting financial aid.
• Stopping school: If you stop taking classes because you get sick, decide to leave the company earlier than you originally intended or decide you don’t like the school you’re studying with, what happens? Some employers will require you to pay them back for the courses you have taken if you do not follow through and complete your degree.

Next: Government Loans For School