FCA Rolls Out Free Tuition Nationally; Adds Option For Free Education To Employee Immediate Families

FCA Rolls Out Free Tuition Nationally; Adds Option for Free Education to Employee Immediate Families

As an update to the previously reported FCA US free college education initiative reported by DrivingSales News in May 2015, FCA US has now rolled out its Degrees@Work program to all FCA dealers in the United States. In addition, FCA has added an option for participating dealers to also extend the free college education through Strayer University to immediate family members of eligible employees at an additional cost to the dealership. This initiative is designed to combat the high employee turnover that exists within the automotive industry particularly in the sales departments of its dealers. In addition, FCA hopes this initiative makes careers in car sales more attractive to young prospective employees and helps change the public’s perception of car salespeople into a more positive one.

In a partnership with Strayer University, FCA US is offering all of its dealerships in the United States the option to offer this free college education valued at an estimated $42,000 to its employees through FCA’s Degrees@Work program. Eligible employees include any FCA dealership employee who has been employed for at least 30 days. This opt-in program is paid for by the dealership at a cost varying by dealership size and ranges between $400 and $1,000 per month. In the initial rollout, only one-third of the 356 dealerships eligible to participate in the program enrolled resulting in 400 enrollments or only 5-6 percent of all potentially eligible employees.

In addition, this national rollout introduced the Degrees@Work Family plan which extends the benefit to immediate family members of eligible employees. This program is at an additional cost to dealers on top of the the Degrees@Work program and can be over $2,500 per month per dealership.

To make it easier for dealership employees or their family members to participate, the agreement between Strayer and FCA US requires no initial out-of-pocket expenses by the participating employee unlike other employers with similar programs that require employees to pay up front then submit for reimbursement.