{"id":4991,"date":"2014-07-07T10:38:02","date_gmt":"2014-07-07T15:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/citings\/?p=4991"},"modified":"2015-10-13T13:31:26","modified_gmt":"2015-10-13T18:31:26","slug":"starbucks-brews-plan-to-fund-college-tuition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/2014\/07\/07\/starbucks-brews-plan-to-fund-college-tuition\/","title":{"rendered":"Starbucks Brews Plan to Fund College Tuition"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Starbucks responds to employees’ lack of affordable\u00a0education choices. Photo by Francisco Gonzalez via Flickr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last month, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz appeared on the Daily Show<\/a> to discuss a new partnership with Arizona State University that will allow workers to earn an online degree while still keeping their day jobs. Schultz was happy to announce that the coffee corporation would be the \u201cfirst U.S. company to provide free college tuition for all [its] employees.\u201d<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0ASU clarified<\/a> that Starbucks won’t<\/em> actually\u00a0provide any money to help its employees afford their education. Rather, workers will have the chance to enroll in ASU\u2019s online programs at a greatly reduced price, but will still have to pay for the remaining costs out of their own pockets, with student loans, or via federal aid.<\/p>\n

The \u201cStarbucks Scholarship\u201d won\u2019t be awarded upfront,<\/a> but the company does plan to reimburse students after<\/em> they pay for, and complete, their first 21 credits. Applying for financial aid can be time consuming and complex, and sociologist Sara Goldrick-Rab argues that a \u201cwholly online education is of questionable value for low-income students\u2026[E]specially when such students are required to pay for those first 21 credits before they qualify for reimbursement.\u201d<\/p>\n

During this time, ASU online will likely make a profit off incoming students who are paying for their education with financial aid\u2014continuing what sociologist Tressie McMillan Cottom describes as a \u201clong and shady history\u201d of companies making money off public funds.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to be fully cynical about the Starbucks Scholarship since it will likely open the (virtual) doors for many students to earn a college degree. Nonetheless, the plan hardly addresses the structural problem of an unaffordable education system. In his interview with Jon Stewart, Schultz likened the tuition benefits to employee-provided health care\u2014a comparison journalist David Perry isn\u2019t keen about<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The development of health care as an employee benefit rather than a universal right has been a disaster for America, leading to high costs and poor results. Yes, the employees are much better off with health care than without, much as some workers will benefit from the new tuition policy. But if making college affordable becomes a job perk, rather than a societal goal, we’re collectively worse off.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n