for work experiences......and will send them to other college classes.

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/06/04/walmart-offering-college-credit-tuition-assistance-to-workers/

7/7/2010 10:53:02 AM

oh great
my MA becomes even more meaningless

I guess its time to go back for the PhD

7/7/2010 10:57:12 AM

Quote :

"You can now earn college credit for working at Walmart. The retailer is launching a program to help defray the expenses of college courses and provide credit for on-the-job training. Dubbed The Lifelong Learning Program, Walmart is partnering with American Public University to offer online classes toward earning a two- or four-year degree. APU is also offering credit for certain training programs and duties performed by Walmart associated that can be applied toward a degree. "Up to 45% of an Associates or Bachelors degree could be earned from 'experiential learning'," Alicia Ledlie, senior director of the Lifelong Learning Program tells Walletpop. So experience with inventory management, workplace ethics and customer service would all count toward a management degree, she says. "(It) could cut almost two years off earning a Bachelors degree. There are already 200,000 people whose job learning has been evaluated for credit, and by 2012, we will have over one million. That's more than 70% of our workforce." That's an eligibility number not actual enrollment numbers. So, in other words, roughly 70% of Walmart workers' duties could ultimately be eligible for college credit at APU. Every Walmart and Sam's Club associate who enrolls in the program will also receive a grant from APU equal to a 15% tuition reduction. Walmart also plans to invest $50 million over the next three years in order to provide tuition assistance and other tools to help employees prepare for college-level work and complete their degrees. The catch -- the employee must keep working for Walmart to qualify for financial assistance toward tuition, but once the work component has been evaluated and credited, those credits remain as long as that student continues with APU through the completion of their degree. Is this indentured servitude or the cheapening of education? Ledlie thinks not. "It's really important to go back to the credibility of the school." APU currently does the same for the U.S. Military, evaluating training for college credit. While it's unusual for a private employer to embark on such a program, she says, Walmart's program is not the first of its kind. APU is an online-only program, something Ledlie says Walmart employees preferred over a more traditional learning environment. A survery of more than 32,000 associates revealed that 72% wanted an online learning environment. This way, they can keep working while in school -- at Walmart. Read more: http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/06/04/walmart-offering-college-credit-tuition-assistance-to-workers/#ixzz0t0axZ1RV "

7/7/2010 10:58:16 AM

hahahahahahahahahaahahaha

nice.

However, McDonalds has some of the most respected manager programs in the world - surely Walmart is right behind. Ok way behind.

7/7/2010 10:58:59 AM

7/7/2010 10:59:21 AM

Somebody tell the college athletes that they can work as greeters and earn credit for that communications degree.

7/7/2010 11:24:28 AM

yea and dont forget to tell potheads and flunkies as well

7/7/2010 11:29:34 AM

I was making a simple post, not a manifest of retards.

7/7/2010 11:30:34 AM

you punks dont know what hard work is

7/7/2010 11:31:26 AM

oh great
my MA Target experience becomes even more meaningless

7/7/2010 11:34:36 AM

^this....three and a half years with that company...no college credits or anything to show for it. Now they tell me some shithead from wal-mart can get credit for stacking boxes and shit.

7/7/2010 11:36:12 AM

^^^ I invented the rotary engine, you ass.

7/7/2010 11:37:10 AM

^ Why don't you bitch about it some more?

7/7/2010 11:38:56 AM

7/7/2010 11:39:41 AM

^That's a 3 credit humanities class

but only at wal-mart

[Edited on July 7, 2010 at 11:40 AM. Reason : .]

7/7/2010 11:40:19 AM

ts like putting twilight in a college english class

7/7/2010 11:56:06 AM

I graduated from Walmart! Yay me!

7/7/2010 12:00:15 PM

I graduated while having a job and paying for my own shit instead of living off daddy's money, yay me!

7/7/2010 12:01:07 PM

I wonder if they are going to come up with a master's program.

7/7/2010 12:01:12 PM

^ The best of the boxes program!

7/7/2010 12:04:36 PM

It's not like American Public University is a real college. I mean they have a fucking stock ticker.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Public_University_System

They are accredited, but looking further into the accrediting system, it seems that the accreditation system is flawed and has little oversight and inconsistent standards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_accreditation


As education becomes more and more corporate, I can see a lot of FUD in terms of legitimate degrees versus the store-bought diplomas from Big Education. My guess is that name recognition for universities will become even more important in the next several years.

7/7/2010 12:12:22 PM

What the fuck is American Public University and are they accredited? I'm guessing not.

[Edited on July 7, 2010 at 12:13 PM. Reason : ^ ah well damn, there we go]

7/7/2010 12:13:34 PM

^^ National accreditation =/= Regional accreditation

[Edited on July 7, 2010 at 12:16 PM. Reason : Hmm. Looks like they have both. ]

7/7/2010 12:15:29 PM

They have both sorts of accreditation...but they are the shittiest versions of accreditation available and they are not accredited in any sort of technical field.

7/7/2010 12:17:08 PM

^this.

Nationally accreditation is a beast. We had to add 3 days to our school year just to meet it And of course everything was went over with a fine tooth comb - even our freaking newspaper was pillaged.

7/7/2010 12:17:32 PM

Many professional certification organizations, such as ISM, which issues the CPM/CPSM, will only accept bachelor's degrees from regionally accredited colleges.

Just FYI.

7/7/2010 12:21:50 PM

Well, they aren't regionally accredited from anywhere except North-Central.....

7/7/2010 12:23:36 PM

That counts, and I noted it above.

7/7/2010 12:27:13 PM

I mean, I am all for helping people go to school who wouldn't normally be able to. I am not ok with giving people college credit for menial work at wal-mart. If you are going to do that then everyone who held a minimum wage job (a great deal of people who went to college fall into this category) should be receiving the same treatment. I am only glad at this point that they don't act like their guys operating the cart movers deserve credits towards and engineering degree. Well not yet anyways.

7/7/2010 12:39:34 PM

I guess this is where college transcripts will come into bigger play.

"Oh, this looks like a good candidate...let's see, 4.0, excellent...worked during college, great...relevant experience...ok, now transcript. Transfered 4 semesters from...Wal-Mart?"

7/7/2010 2:20:58 PM

Watch Out For Falling Prices Degrees!

7/7/2010 2:21:50 PM

the way i see it, anything to get people on their feet that may need that second chance aint a bad thing

otherwise theyd just go on uneducated, i could careless about the watering down of your degree

education has been gettign watered down and watered down long before you shimmied out the womb. and like always someone will just have to work harder to gain equivalancy

7/7/2010 2:40:45 PM

So you agree that it is a cheapening of the quality of education, but you still want it to be a "second chance?"

What good does it do to have this out there if people know that the degree earned was completed while working hourly at wal-mart? Not just while working there, but you literally used your work experience as credit in almost half of your degree.

You also see that the higher education system has been degraded for a long time as it is. You saying you just don't care if that continues?

7/7/2010 7:27:39 PM

^

Quote :

"I COULD CARELESS"

So yes, he does care.

7/7/2010 7:30:22 PM

does this mean that all UNC apparel that is bought at walmart comes with a UNC diploma?

7/7/2010 7:55:26 PM

Was this anybody else's first thought too?



Costco? Yeah, I got my degree in here!

7/7/2010 10:36:07 PM

Welcome to Costco, I love you.

7/7/2010 10:44:37 PM

Quote :

"the way i see it, anything to get people on their feet that may need that second chance aint a bad thing otherwise theyd just go on uneducated, i could careless about the watering down of your degree"

they're not being educated, they are getting "college credit" just for doing what they already do or on-the-job training that they'd already get.

7/8/2010 7:53:31 AM

Quote :

"i could careless"

7/8/2010 8:02:19 AM

Its a way of letting those people get into college easier, but they certainly aren't going to come in with any relevant theoretical knowledge. I don't really see where the benefit of this comes from other than reducing the "sit down and learn" time it would take for a worker to get a degree. Yes, they're getting a degree and might get better opportunities (ala Target you need a college degree to get into management from what I've heard), but that specific degree loses its educational value.

I'm all for helping those stuck on the bottom rung a leg up, but I don't see this as a good way to do it in the long run.

7/8/2010 8:06:28 AM

Quote :

"i could careless"

7/8/2010 8:08:48 AM

why do you assume that an alternative means of getting less priviledged people into school will lead to them pissing it all away?


you dont think theyll take advantage of the opportunity?? all the fuckin flunkies i know are spoiled rich brats that have been through nothing in life and think college sucks so they dont wanna go anymore

plus its not hard to earn good grades by being up under the professor's ass everyday tryna change a B to an A, dont act like that isnt what college is about

7/8/2010 11:39:32 AM

You must not be from a small town then. All the fucking flunkies I know are pieces of shit that pissed away the meager opportunities that they had. The public school system around here might not be that great but it provided opportunities for even the most meager asshole who wanted to try just a little bit. All they had to do was put forth a little effort and they could get somewhere in the UNC system or otherwise.

7/8/2010 11:43:38 AM

Quote :

"best friend chicken"

I'm AstralAdvent and i approved this message.

7/8/2010 12:12:46 PM

bachelors degree is the new high school diploma

7/8/2010 12:17:59 PM

i see that you got yours in science

I'm AstralAdvent and i approved this message.

7/8/2010 12:18:41 PM

Quote :

"Was this anybody else's first thought too? Costco? Yeah, I got my degree in here!"

I was so about to post this. Luckily, I used my Wal-Mart degree and read the whole thread before arbitrarily doing so.

7/8/2010 12:21:29 PM