UW-Milwaukee partners with Amazon as a way to shore up enrollment, serve new clientele

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee this summer has joined a small group of other Wisconsin schools partnering with Amazon in a tuition-aid deal that could put more students in seats as the school tries to stem enrollment declines. 

The move makes sense for both sides, said Laura Pedrick, who leads UWM’s online education efforts and reached out to Amazon earlier this year about participating in the company program.

Amazon is up against a tight labor market and sees tuition assistance for its hourly employees as a retention tool, she said. 

UWM, which prides itself on enrolling a high number of low-income and first-generation students, knows how financial pressure can force some students to drop out or take longer to graduate. Amazon employees receiving up to $5,250 per year in tuition reimbursement from the company removes one of the biggest barriers to a college degree.

It’s no surprise that the three other Wisconsin schools participating in Amazon’s Career Choice program — Milwaukee Area Technical College, Gateway Technical College and UW-Parkside — serve similar student clientele. 

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Geography helps, too. Amazon has a massive distribution center in Oak Creek and several Milwaukee locations, including a Prime Now hub, an Amazon Fresh site and a delivery station. The company also has a fulfillment center in Kenosha and is planning on expanding its operations there. 

Amazon spokesperson Lisa Campos didn’t respond to a question asking if other Wisconsin schools have expressed interest in partnering with the company.

Gateway joined the Amazon program in 2017 and has enrolled 274 students to date, spokesperson Lee Colony said. 

MATC's Amazon partnership began in fall 2020, with nearly 150 employees having participated so far, according to spokesperson Darryll Fortune.

Both technical colleges were part of a national push by the company to cover tuition costs for two-year associate degrees and certificates at select schools. 

Amazon this year expanded to offer bachelor’s programs, too. Of the 80,000 employees participating since the company's Career Choice program launched in 2012, more than 25,000 of them have joined this year.

The company approached UW-Parkside about the program, and it launched in January, university officials said. Sixteen Amazon employees indicated interest and six have enrolled to date, with more expected for the fall semester. UW-Parkside is also considering Amazon's invitation to offer courses directly on company facilities. 

At UWM, all undergraduate programs are available to Amazon students. Tuition reimbursement for a full-time employee covers two classes per semester, Pedrick said.  

The university encourages Amazon employees to file the federal financial aid form, which may unlock more grants or scholarships in case they want to take additional classes.

Workers are eligible for the tuition benefit after 90 days of employment. 

Four Amazon employees enrolled in UWM’s summer term and one signed up for the UW Flex program, a competency-based education approach where instruction is self-paced and students work through projects to earn a certificate or degree. 

Pedrick expects enrollment to grow, though preliminary fall numbers weren’t available. She’s hoping the partnership eventually brings in 500 students.

That'd be huge for a university that has shed some 3,400 in enrollment over the last five years.

Amazon is far from the first company to offer tuition assistance to its employees. In deals that predate Amazon, UWM also partners with Charter Communications, HATCO, UPS and several other corporations.

The opportunity to tap into one of the nation’s largest private employers is an exciting one, Pedrick said. Working adults often gravitate toward online programming for its flexible scheduling.

UWM has developed a national reputation in online education, offering more than 700 online courses each semester and 42 online degree and certificate programs. About 10,000 UWM students in any given semester take at least one online class, she said. Between 2,000 and 3,000 of them sign up for entirely online schedules.

Higher education leaders have long seen online education as the bridge connecting adult learners with workforce skills employers say they desperately need. A 2019 report by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center estimated Wisconsin has as many as 662,000 working adults with some college credits but no degree.

“This partnership with Amazon is a great benefit to our students,” Pedrick said. “And this is a benefit to Milwaukee, too."

Contact Kelly Meyerhofer at kmeyerhofer@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KellyMeyerhofer.