Learn Together

Starbucks has announced that it will provide a four year degree to any of it's employees that wish to pursue it. The degree will come from Arizona State University's online program. Employees will receive a scholarship from A.S.U. for 42% of the tuition and Starbucks will pay the other 58%.

This is a great idea and quite progressive, at least on the surface. My question would be prior to this announcement would Starbucks have accepted an online degree from A.S.U. for senior management positions in their company?

Yes we are in a new era of learning and there are some prestigious Universities offering a variety of online programs, but we are also in an era where a plethora of higher learning organizations which are in fact providing useless pieces of paper to their graduates. It is one of the most under reported scandals in our country. Students seeking four year degrees and other accreditations are going deep in debt only to discover afterwards that prospective employers are dismissive of their so called education. They are left with debt and no opportunity.

This is not being done in the dark or in isolated instances. Some of these online schools and vocational institutions are raking in billions of dollars with no disclosure of the downfalls. If you're a C-Span junkie then you know that many in the U.S. Senate and House know about this problem but are not taking legislative action to address it.

It's true that Starbucks is trying to do something good and Howard Schultz is to be commended. I hope their employees will take advantage and that the degree they earn will truly improve their lives.

As to the negative things pointed out it is time for Federal and State governments to catch up to the explosion of for profit alleged educational businesses and enact sensible regulations to protect students and ensure they are getting value for their investment.