News

McDonald's triples tuition assistance

March 30, 2018

McDonald's is vastly reducing the required number of weekly hours, as well as months of employment workers need to tap into its Archways to Opportunity education program. A news release said that the mega-QSR will allot $150 million over five years to provide almost 400,000 U.S. restaurant employees with accessibility to the program. The company is using the windfall it received— like many other QSR brands — from tax law changes to fund the add-ons. 

The brand will accomplish the increased educational benefit promises goal by cutting the time employees must put in before being able to tap into these benefits from nine months to 90 days, and slashing the weekly minimum hours employees are required to work weekly from 20 to 15 total, according to the release.

In fact, McDonald's will also extend some education benefits to restaurant employees' family members through the Archway initiative, which gives eligible U.S. employees an opportunity to earn a high school diploma, upfront college tuition assistance, free education advising services and learn English as a second language.  

"Our commitment to education reinforces our ongoing support of the people who play a crucial role in our journey to build a better McDonald's," McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook, said in the release. "By offering restaurant employees more opportunities to further their education and pursue their career aspirations, we are helping them find their full potential, whether that's at McDonald's or elsewhere."

McDonald's increased investment in the company's educational opportunity program is retroactive to the first of this year and otherwise effective on May 1 this year. There is no lifetime cap on benefits received through the program and it is applicable to community colleges, four-year universities or trade schools. 

Other increased benefits now include: 

• Higher total tuition assistance:Raised from $700 to $2,500 annually per eligible crew member and from $1,050 to $3,000 annually for eligible managers. 
• Added family services: Career online high school and college advisory services to restaurant employees' family members through Cengage and Council for Adult and Experiential Learning.
• Grant funding through new International Education Fund: This resource will provide local initiatives and incentives in global markets to further education advancement programs.

"By tripling tuition assistance, adding education benefits for family members and lowering eligibility requirements to the equivalent of a summer job, we are sending a signal that if you come work at your local McDonald's, we'll invest in your future," McDonald's Chief People Officer David Fairhurst said in a news release.

Since 2015, the company's educational assistance program has helped more than 24,000 people and awarded more than  $21 million in high school and college tuition assistance. 

"McDonald's is making it easier for workers to access education benefits and they are making those benefits more generous," The Aspen Institute Director Jamie Fall said of the program. "The fact that they are extending the Career Online High School program and their college advisory services to family members of workers can be game-changing for some families. Plus, paying the tuition upfront for workers instead of through a reimbursement process allows far more workers to take advantage of the program."