CAEL Joins McDonald's in Celebrating 10 Years of ‘Archways to Opportunity’

When it comes to linking learning and work, education benefits can be the golden pathway. At least from an adult learner or worker’s point of view, it would be hard to think of more favorable circumstances in which to learn and work. As tuition—and student debt levels—rise, so does the impact when employers help pay for college.

Education benefits also drive recruiting, retention, and even productivity improvements. More companies are recognizing the holistic impact education benefits create not just for workers but for their communities. McDonald’s has long been one of them.

Its just-released Archways to Opportunity 10th Anniversary Report offers a wealth of examples of the difference education benefits can make in the lives of adult learners. Archways to Opportunity is McDonald's education and career development program for eligible restaurant employees. It offers a range of resources including tuition assistance, free high school completion, English language learning, and career advising services. 

Archways to Careers is a key component of Archways to Opportunity’s advising element. Launched in 2020 through a partnership with CAEL, the career-navigation app helps employees get the most out of their education benefits by recognizing the transferable skills they're developing and visualizing potential career advancement.

For example, the app features an interest assessment that helps personalize the experience of exploring skill development opportunities and the career pathways they enable. Like the broader Archways to Opportunity initiative it supports, Archways to Careers is designed to support adult learners whether those pathways remain at McDonald’s or lead to rewarding careers in other growth sectors. 

Regardless of where those pathways ultimately lead, Archways to Opportunity offers the latest evidence that education benefits boost employee loyalty. Three out of four participants said they stayed with McDonald's longer because of the program, according to the report. (More than half stayed at least two years longer.) Since its launch, more than 90,000 McDonald’s restaurant employees have participated in Archways to Opportunity.

Additional outcomes highlighted in the report include:

• 80% of participants believe Archways created more economic opportunities for them.
• 55% said Archways helped them get a promotion more quickly.
• 72% said Archways created new job opportunities for them. 
• 46% of Archways participants who earned a college degree were first-generation college students.
• 85% said Archways helped them develop confidence in their career path
• 75% said Archways helped them pursue careers in new fields or industries, including health care, business/accounting, IT, and government.
• Since its inception, Archways has disbursed more than $240 million in tuition assistance. 

You can read McDonald’s full Archways to Opportunities report here.