STOP JUST "FUNDING" YOUR TUITION ASSISTANCE BENEFITS – START TO MANAGE EDUCATIONAL DOLLARS TO ADD VALUE AND SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE COSTS

Most all larger corporations offer Tuition Assistance Plans (TAP) as part of their employee benefit packages. Many spend multi-millions of dollars each year on college courses and degree programs. Corporations depend on these benefits to increase productivity, employee retention and recruitment, diversity efforts and support a sustainable workforce for the future.

Companies have policies and procedures to "administer" TAP benefits, but do little to assure it is being spent wisely. They merely track the expenditures and reimbursements. In other words, they fund this benefit plan, but they don't manage it for cost-effectiveness and strategic value.

There are many criteria that need to be defined and met to create a cost-effective and strategic value for TAP. EASi's analysis, reporting and consulting centers on activities which will structure your TAP to create measurable value. Such topics and activities include:

1. Determine to insource or outsource the administration of TAP – EASi has “insider information” on over a dozen vendors which provide bundled or stand-alone administration services for tuition assistance.
2. Include TAP policy as part of total Employee Development objectives – EASi consulting integrates education with total organizational learning goals to support a current and future sustainable workforce and drive performance.
3. Create policy which is more “internally” benchmarked than “externally” benchmarked
4. Obtain college credit for equivalent training to rid duplication of costs
5. Pros/Cons of 401 K Type Education Accounts
6. Support employee dependent's learning for future generational workforce commitment
7. Assure upfront employee spending of educational dollars is most effective for value received
8. Measure back-end results for TAP effects on succession planning, diversity, and employee recruit/retain, etc.
9. Appropriate use of College Partnerships

College Partnerships are not effective for best-use of TAP dollars. Such partnerships are valuable for specific curriculum development. EASi can find and coordinate arrangements for such partnerships. However these alliances are not always effective for tuition reductions. It is best to keep open the educational opportunities for employee provider selection. Here are some reasons why:

• Limiting college providers limits opportunity for some valuable programs of study and options for learning
• Larger cost-savings can be derived from non-traditional options to earn credit than small tuition reductions
• Limited college selections creates mass replication of learning which stifles creativity and new thinking

The worst thing you can do is “herd” employees into select educational programs of study. Think about it? Do you really want the majority of your employees studying the same major, with the same instructors and the same textbooks? The ramifications of such strategy will cost your organization much more in the future for a small tuition savings today.

EASi Philosophy for Consulting: The best way to assure cost-savings and create value for your workforce is to direct individual learner's to colleges and universities that will best provide the learning to meet their career development requirements and your business goals, while providing cost-effective means to earn college credit - such as testing for credit, Portfolio for life/work learning equivalency, validate training for credit, grant credit for military training, provide formats for access to learning (evening, weekend, online, accelerated, degree-completion programs) and many more opportunities that offer value for education. This will best provide a sustainable workforce.

Additionally, EASi products support individual employee Assessment for:

• Learning Styles for successful selection of teaching methods
• Transferability of credits to reduce time to graduation
• Learning goals for career advancement
• Proper selection of learning providers to best achieve goals with individual abilities

EASi products include:

1. Consulting and Policy update – includes review of employee data, historical tuition assistance usage, cost, policy. Review of internal learning goals and skill gap data. Review of Corporate University offerings. Future data collection needed to measure success. Administration procedures. Measure.
2. Obtain college credit for equivalent training courses to rid duplicated learning costs
3. Book – How To Earn A College Degree. Provide to every employee BEFORE using TAP.
4. OnLine Advisor/College Search. Exclusive database of all college/university programs of study. Provide to every employee BEFORE using TAP.

EASi GUARANTEES A COST-SAVINGS OR YOU DON'T PAY !

CALL 480-609-3886