There is value in developing alliances between educational institutions and companies. Colorado Technical University's alliances with three companies including McDonald’s, CVS, and the Ben Hudnall Memorial Trust is discussed. Examples of how colleges and universities develop programs meeting unique workforce needs and creating employment opportunities for students are presented.
Colleges and universities can build strong mutually beneficial educational alliances with companies to help develop a talented workforce. At Colorado Technical University (CTU), our differentiators are to be able to offer the educational programs our corporate partners need, and meet the operational needs of their company. CTU works in detail to understand the company and tailor our programs so that there is a relatively seamless and worry-free experience for students from our corporate partners entering our educational programs. CTU's Center for Corporate Engagement works with a wide variety of companies including McDonalds, CVS, and the Ben Hudnall Memorial Trust. CTU has become McDonald’s single largest national university partner. CTU is able to service McDonald’s in a complex corporate franchise environment from an operational perspective, and by providing educational programs they value. McDonald’s students can work towards earning a degree with no out of pocket expense through a combination of McDonald’s tuition assistance and a grant from CTU. Similarly, CTU's new rapidly growing partnership with CVS is helping their employees earn a degree with no out of pocket expenses across their corporate, distribution, and retail groups. CTU has a longstanding partnership at the Ben Hudnall Memorial Trust (”BHMT”, a Kaiser Permanente education trust) to serve the needs its members with degree offerings, customized training, micro-credentials, and continuing medical education. CTU also works BHMT to provide a degree with no out of pocket expense. Where the war for talent remains strong, companies can use their educational alliances as a key recruitment and retention tool to strengthen their workforce.
Learning Objectives:
- To understand the ways that colleges and universities can support the unique educational needs of companies.
- To review how educational alliances can help to customize the student experience.
- To develop an appreciation for the value of developing educational alliances.