Back-To-School: The Benefits of Continuing Education

It’s back-to-school time, and like many of you, we here at Partner have taken those first-day-of-school photos and sent our children on their way. What does back to school mean for professionals? Now is the time to consider the benefits of continuing education and employer paid tuition reimbursement. Both the employer and the employee benefit from continuing education and whether you’re investing in yourself, participating in company paid tuition reimbursement, or an employer considering providing this benefit - it’s money well spent.

What does the employer gain from offering tuition reimbursement?

An employer benefits from offering tuition reimbursement in different ways, many that are not obvious. Most employers, 86 percent, place certain requirements on the courses that qualify for tuition reimbursement, ensuring that courses taken are immediately relevant to an employee’s specialty. This means that an employee is gaining training and education that will ultimately enhance the performance and productivity for the company. Professional development is almost always a breath of fresh air and it can be a reminder of why certain processes are the way they are or provide insight into ways to be more productive and effective.  Chances are your leadership also believes in employee education, as a recent study showed that more than 75 percent of CEO’s felt that it was vital to the future success of the company.

Employers typically put time restraints on the eligibility of an employee’s utilization of the tuition reimbursement, guaranteeing that an employee must stay with the company for a certain length of time both before and after using the benefit. Recent studies have shown that 57 percent of employers require employees to be at the company for one year prior to using tuition reimbursement and require an employee to remain employed a minimum of six months after using the benefit. These time constraints ultimately lead to retention of employees that utilize these benefits.

Another benefit to the employer is the attraction of higher skilled workers to the company. The level of employee that is interested in this type of benefit is typically of higher quality and skill, as lower quality workers often do not find this type of benefit appealing. The use of a tuition reimbursement benefit also requires an employee to invest their own time and effort in order to use; this means you are attracting and retaining an employee that is engaged in their own career development. Instituting a clause for repayment in to the tuition reimbursement program means that employees will only utilize tuition reimbursement if they are serious about their career growth; if an employee leaves the company before the guarantee period they will be required to pay back a portion of funds used.

What does an employee gain from continuing education and professional development?

Unemployment has been hovering just over 9 percent, but for those who achieve a bachelor’s degree or higher, the unemployment rate is less than half that, around 4.2 percent.  Fortunately, a recent study by Benefits USA found that more than 84 percent of employers offered some type of tuition reimbursement.  Though the reimbursement varies by type of position, as an employee, tuition reimbursement is clearly an excellent benefit if you are interested in continuing your education; the cost of education is continually increasing and the furthering your education can be invaluable for career growth. Utilizing your company’s tuition reimbursement for work-related courses shows that you are a dedicated employee focused on increasing your knowledge in order to perform your work at a higher level. This also indicates that you intend to stay with the company for a longer period of time than the average employee, simply due to the length of time it takes to complete coursework or earn a degree. Employers want to know they are investing in employees that plan to stay with them for a good length of time.

Even if your not in a position eligible for tuition reimbursement, or with an employer that doesn't offer this benefit, investing in your own continuing education can be money well spent.  Conservative estimates project a 15 percent ROI from investing in yourself, but time and money spent on well chosen degrees and certifications can easily yield a 30 percent to 40 percent ROI.  Over your career this can mean more opportunity, higher job satisfaction and the compounding benefit of being able to make a higher income.

Continuing education and professional development can be a major investment by both employers and employees, however the benefit to the company and the individual employee is priceless. Few other investments carry such a low risk and high ROI to both the employer and the employee.  So next time you see a school bus drive by, you might want to consider opportunities for investing in yourself or your employees.