In the News: Media Highlight McDonald’s Tuition Benefits Expansion

McDonald’s March 29 announcement about boosting education assistance as part of its Archways to Opportunity program drove conversation well into April.

Over the weekend, CNBC pointed to McDonald’s, among other food service brands, that provide workers tuition benefits and recognize the value to both sides – restaurant staff and company.

Rob Lauber, Chief Learning Officer at McDonald's, told the outlet, “We know that people stay with us longer when they participate in these programs…and people that stay longer deliver a better customer experience for us.”

Under the expanded program, as CNN Money explained, McDonald’s “will allocate $150 million over five years to expand its existing tuition assistance benefit” and “eligible restaurant employees can receive $2,500 a year, up from $700 previously, and managers can receive $3,000 a year, up from $1,050.”

Additionally, as US News and World Report noted, “The fast-food company is also changing its eligibility rules, which it said will double the amount of workers who qualify to 400,000.

The funds can be put toward “trade school, a community college or a four-year university,” reported USA Today, though Archways to Opportunity as a whole “also includes help earning a high school diploma, enrolling for ESL classes and access to free education counseling.”

Nation’s Restaurant News also covered the announcement, including the less cited fact that “To date, Archways has invested $21 million in high school and college tuition assistance for roughly 24,000 U.S. workers.”

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