Firms Value Tuition Reimbursement

Northwest Arkansas businesses are retaining employees by sending them back to college and paying their tuition toward business-oriented degrees. Often, that means graduate school programs.

The University of Arkansas’ base graduate school rate for full- or part-time students who live in-state is $197.40 per credit hour. But that doesn’t include $20.50 applied for miscellaneous university fees or additional rates specific to the university’s individual colleges. (See chart.)

The Sam M. Walton College of Business Administration, for example, charges $14.30 per graduate credit hour on top of the base rate and fees. The Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural Food and Life Sciences charges an extra $7.69 per graduate credit hour.

Local businesses — including Hoffbrau Steaks in Fayetteville, Mercy Health Center of Northwest Arkansas in Rogers and Tyson Foods Inc. in Springdale — support employee graduate and undergrad educations through tuition reimbursement programs.

Hoffbrau owner Matt Charboneau has helped 17 employees since he began his tuition reimbursement program in the fall of 2000, including 13 students who took advantage of it during the spring 2001 semester.

Borrowing the idea from a restaurant owner in Austin, Texas, Charboneau said he started the program as a way to try to stabilize his staffing situation.

“Finding and keeping good people is challenging, especially with a smaller restaurant. I can’t compete wage-wise, so I have to come up with other perks and benefits to keep good people,” Charboneau said.

Employees must work a full semester at Hoffbrau before they can take advantage of the program. Students are reimbursed for fall tuition in January and spring tuition in June. Charboneau also reimburses employees who attend summer sessions.

Charboneau said he allots $15,000 annually for the program and it’s well worth it.

Eighteen employees at Mercy Health have received scholarships to continue their education in nursing, allied health and courses that enhance their skills at one of eight schools in Northwest Arkansas, including the UA and Webster University in Fayetteville.

St. Mary’s Hospital Auxiliary and Foundation supports employees who have worked at Mercy Health for at least six months by providing financial aid for the education program including $500 a semester to each student.

Many business corporations also are sending their employees back to school to learn the skills necessary for the ever-changing workplace.

Ed Nicholson, director of media and community relations for Tyson Foods Inc., said the Springdale company reimburses tuition for team members who study within the areas they work. That can range from engineering and nursing to accounting, information technology and poultry science.

“We typically reimburse 75 percent of the tuition and books for people studying within their area of work — the most prevalent area being business,” Nicholson said.

Jennifer Eichenberg, community relations director for Webster, said most students in tuition reimbursement programs have an undergraduate degree and a minimum of three years of work experience.

“Most of our students are business professionals who are looking for a graduate degree and want to be able to do it an economic and time-efficient way,” Eichenberg said. “Ambitious people can get a degree in an year and a half.”

Area Graduate School Tuition Schedules

Rates are for in-state residents and do not include additional university- or college-specific fees.

Institution — Base rate per credit hour — No. of graduate degrees offered

John Brown University — $315 — 6

University of Arkansas — $197 — 89

UA School of Law — $221 — 2

Webster University — $345 — 6

*Includes Master of Science degrees in school counseling, community counseling and marriage and family therapy and a Master of Arts degree in ministry. The rate for M.S. degrees in business administration or leadership and ethics from the Don Soderquist Center for Leadership and Ethics is $388 per credit hour.

**Based on minimum of 15 hours per semester required for Juris Doctor degree (regular law degree). The rate for a Master of Laws degree in agriculture is $241 per credit hour based on a minimum of 12 hours per semester.