07/17/2025
Workforce development enriches organizations and workers alike. Education cultivates resilience, agility, and critical thinking, all of which underlie every successful business. Thus, simply offering tuition benefits to staff members isn’t enough; rather, employers must actively encourage workers at every level to pursue higher education and continue to bridge their skill gaps.
What Are Education Benefits, and What Do They Do?
Education benefits are sometimes referred to as “tuition benefits.” There are different types of education benefits, including tuition assistance and tuition reimbursement.
Ultimately, employers offer these benefits to provide financial assistance to workers who pursue academic study. By helping employees cover tuition expenses, organizations can upskill and reskill their talent to foster dynamic, efficient teams.
Who Manages Education Benefits Programs?
Executives, department leaders, and HR managers all play important roles in overseeing education benefits programs. Together, these personnel can identify clear, measurable goals for workforce education initiatives. Based on their assessments of in-house teams’ skill sets, companies can procure benefits packages that best suit their needs.
Resources like EdAssist® by Bright Horizons® are also helpful for connecting employers with tuition assistance packages for continuing education programs.
How Do Organizations Align Education Benefits with Key Business Goals?
Education benefits programs are highly customizable: Employers can specify which universities or programs the benefits apply to, as well as how employees may qualify for tuition benefits.
For example, organizations with high employee turnover rates may impose tenure requirements. This way, only long-serving staff members may qualify for tuition benefits.
Alternatively, growing organizations may offer tuition benefits to new hires as a way to attract top talent in a competitive job market.
Employers can also determine staff members’ eligibility for tuition benefits based on other factors, like whether employees work full-time or part-time. Imposing these types of eligibility requirements can help to reduce the overall cost of workforce education.
Still, employers should exercise caution when limiting access to education benefits; too many restrictions will inhibit workforce development efforts.
How Can Business Leaders Maximize Utilization of Employee Education Benefits?
Employers must make an ongoing effort to inform new hires and veteran employees about the education benefits they offer. Hiring managers and HR personnel should promote education benefits throughout every touchpoint of the hiring process: from public job postings to candidate interviews and employee onboarding.
Company-owned communication channels – such as employee newsletters, internal social media, and email – also provide ample opportunities to remind veteran employees about the tuition benefits available to them. Moreover, routine performance reviews open the door to conversations around career development tracks and continuing education.
Whether employees are currently struggling to meet expectations or they aspire to advance to more senior-level roles, they can complete career-relevant programs to acquire new, relevant skills by using their education benefits.
How Can Organizations Budget for Education Benefits?
The cost of tuition benefits is a tax-deductible business expense, and companies may provide up to $5,250 in tuition benefits annually per employee without increasing workers’ taxable income, per the IRS.
Qualifying employers may cover additional tuition expenses through TuitionWise, a grant program available from American Public University (APU). With TuitionWise, students using education benefits may pursue degrees and/or certificates online at APU with no out-of-pocket tuition expenses.1
How to Select an Education Benefits Partner
University partnerships enable employers to present their workers with a streamlined, straightforward path to higher learning. Consider the following factors when evaluating prospective partners:
- Program offerings: Is there a wide selection of programs that are relevant to your business?
- Location/scheduling: Do class schedules accommodate working professionals?
- Tuition rates: What are the typical tuition fees, and are there special offers available for corporate partners and their employees?
- Faculty credentials: What are the educators’ contributions to their respective fields?
- Accreditation: Will students receive a quality education?2
- Communications: Will the partner assist with promoting education benefits to employees?
How Can Organizations Best Leverage Employees Who Use Their Tuition Benefits?
Employees who expand their skill sets through higher education will invariably seek out opportunities for upward mobility. Ultimately, education helps foster not only industry-specific “hard” skills, but also general problem-solving abilities and leadership qualities.
Organizations may therefore leverage newly educated workers through succession-planning strategies and new growth initiatives. Executives and HR leaders should maintain open communication with their staff members and discuss how continuing education can shape their career trajectories.
Education Benefits Are a Must for Nurturing In-House Talent
Competent, knowledgeable employees are indispensable. Organizations inherit their staff members’ strengths: Whether workers are tactical negotiators, astute problem-solvers, or resourceful managers, their myriad talents become assets for their employers.
Consequently, workforce development enriches not only personnel, but also the organizations they work for. Likewise, education benefits programs aren’t merely employee perks; they’re resources for organizations to leverage to help bridge employee skill gaps and increase efficiencies.
Learn more about TuitionWise at APU and find out how your team members can gain new, career-relevant skills through our 200+ online degree and certificate programs.
1 This program is available to eligible participants only. No out-of-pocket tuition cost may be possible through the use of an employer’s tuition assistance benefit, combined with an APU partner grant. Some programs also may include in-person activities, such as practicums or labs, and other fees, which may result in additional costs to the eligible participant.
2American Public University System is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (hlcommission.org), an institutional accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. The Commission accredits degree-granting institutions nationwide is also recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. American Public University is part of the accredited American Public University System.
EdAssist and Bright Horizons are registered trademarks of Bright Horizons Family Solutions LLC.