Papa John’s Announces Tuition Program for Employees
Last year, LinkedIn named Starbucks as “one of the best food companies to work for”—and one of the many factors called out was the coffee company's college achievement plan program, which fully reimburses “eligible full-time and part-time employees” for bachelor’s degrees at Arizona State University. McDonald’s also offers tuition assistance to its employees through the “Archways to Opportunity” program—up next? Papa John’s, which announced Wednesday that it would be partnering with Purdue University Global (an online public university that’s part of the Purdue University network) to offer a “fully funded college benefit program,” reports Bloomberg. The program, appropriately, is called “Dough & Degrees.”
Today we announced a partnership with @purdueglobal to offer a fully funded college benefit program for corporate team members at all levels (drivers & store employees too) with more than 180 degree options and flexible scheduling. More here: https://t.co/uYp5U7pd9j pic.twitter.com/JFwMGB2dVC
— Papa John's Pizza (@PapaJohns) February 13, 2019
“People are our most important ingredient and we are always looking for new ways to make Papa John’s a better place to work,” Steve Ritchie, President and CEO of Papa John’s, said in a statement. “We believe this is a truly unique tuition program in our industry.”
The partnership gives Papa John’s employees access to more than 180 different degree programs—including cybersecurity, accounting, finance, business, and information technology, according to the statement. Both corporate and franchise workers have opportunities to pursue education. Corporate employee tuition will be 100 percent covered, for both bachelor’s and master’s online degree programs. As for the franchise team program, it will offer “significant tuition and fee reductions” for undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as covering the cost of application fees and "course materials." Per Bloomberg, franchise employees can expect a 20 percent tuition reduction for associate's and bachelor's degree programs, and 14 percent for master's degree programs. And while the partnership is solely with Purdue University right now, Papa John's may add more partners in the future.
In other fast food news, McDonald’s iconic green Shamrock Shakes are making their way back on the menu—you have until March 24 to try one, if you haven’t yet. And Denny’s created “Chocolats du Diner” (aka pancake truffles) for Valentine’s Day—you can learn more here.
