FCA US Offering Free College Degrees To Dealership Employees

FCA US has a new program that will allow their U.S. dealership employees to get an a college education for free. The program is called “Degrees@Work.” FCA has teamed up with Strayer University based out of Washington D.C. The private university is located in 16 states. There are 77 campuses nationwide and a large online class program. The stated goal of the program, according to FCA is to, “attract top talent, improve the skills of existing employees, and significantly increase employee retention.” Dealerships pay a flat fee to join the initiative for their employees. This program could potentially mean that dealership employees can earn a bachelor’s or master’s degree.

The first phase of the program is being unveiled in the southeastern United States and according to FCA can include as many as 365 stores. Those stores would be in Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, and Georgia. National rollout of the program is expected later this year. Karl McDonnell, CEO of Higher Education at Strayer spoke about the partnership. McDonnell said, “FCA US is creating new ways of learning that work for both the employer and the employee – skills are developed that immediately drive measurable results and employees are given a pathway to a college degree without debt.”

In a press release by FCA, Al Gardner, Head of Dealer Network Development, and president & CEO of the Chrysler Brand, FCA US LLC said that many dealers have expressed concern with their inability to fill certain positions. Gardner said in a statement, “Our collaboration with Strayer demonstrates our focus on building our dealers’ hard-working employees’ skill sets to help them perform at an optimal level while also investing in their long-term success.”

But what will happen after dealers offer this free education to their employees? The question on a lot of minds is, once they have a bachelor’s degree, are they going to stay at the dealership? Dealers will need to certainly consider this point as they offer this program to their employees. They will need to do something to make those employees with newly minted degrees stay employed by the dealership. Statements on this issue seem to note FCA is concerned with the “long-term success” of its employees, thus that success may necessarily be at an FCA dealership.

What do you think of the decision on the part of FCA to offer free education to dealership employees? Do you see a move to help reduce retention or a tool for losing employees to degree-required positions elsewhere?