Courtesy of Morgan State University
Morgan State University announced a new partnership with Amazon naming Maryland’s largest Historically Black College and University (HBCU) as a new ‘Education Partner’ for the technology company’s Career Choice program. Offered in collaboration with the University’s College of Interdisciplinary and Continuing Studies (CICS), the Career Choice program now allows Amazon hourly employees located throughout Maryland and neighboring states to select Morgan as a destination to pursue a degree or learn new skills, with pre-paid tuition covered by Amazon. Morgan is one of three Maryland universities to be designated an Amazon Career Choice institution and the first 4-year HBCU in the program’s network.
Amazon’s Career Choice program has a rigorous selection process for third-party partner educators, choosing partners that are focused on helping employees through their education programs, assisting them with job placements, and overall offering education that leads to career success. At present, there are more than 140 universities and colleges participating nationwide. Morgan, by way of its newly launched College of Interdisciplinary and Continuing Studies, will offer participating Amazon employees with 60+ transfer credits up to eight interdisciplinary bachelor’s degree program options, online learning opportunities and support from dedicated advisors who are paired with each candidate to steward successful matriculation. Amazon employees, without any college credits and just starting to pursue their degree, will also have the option to enroll in any of the University’s nearly 60 other available undergraduate degree programs.
“Through strategic partnerships and initiatives like Amazon’s Career Choice Program, Morgan is working to expand opportunities for even more adult learners to pursue degree attainment and have access to in-demand programs that can lead to higher paying careers and advancement,” said David K. Wilson, president of Morgan State University. “Morgan is proud to be an Amazon educational partner and we look forward to playing a role in the educational journey of their employees. Whether we are talking about an adult learner at the beginning of the process toward earning a college degree or looking to leverage the college credits they already have to get over the finish line, we’re committed to working with them and getting them to where they want to be. It is our hope that partnerships like this, between corporations and institutes of higher education, can serve as a blueprint for how we can transform the way we meet the expanding needs of the nontraditional, adult student.”
Amazon’s Career Choice program is an education benefit that empowers employees to learn new skills for career success at Amazon or elsewhere. The program meets individual learners where they are in pursuit of their education through a variety of education and upskilling opportunities including pre-paid college tuition, industry certifications designed to lead to in-demand jobs, and foundational skills such as English language proficiency, high school diplomas, and GEDs. In the U.S., the company is investing $1.2 billion to upskill more than 300,000 employees by 2025 to help move them into higher-paying, in-demand jobs. Amazon currently has more than 750,000 hourly employees in the U.S., 15,000 of which work throughout the Baltimore metropolitan area.
“We’re looking forward to Morgan State University coming on board as an education partner for Career Choice, adding to the hundreds of best-in-class offerings available to our employees,” said Tammy Thieman, Global Program Lead of Amazon’s Career Choice program. “We’re committed to empowering our employees by providing them access to the education and training they need to grow their careers, whether that’s with us or elsewhere. We have intentionally created a partner network of third-party educators and employers committed to providing excellent education, job placement resources, and continuous improvements to the experience. Today, more than 80,000 Amazon employees around the world have already participated in Career Choice and we’ve seen first-hand how it can transform their lives.”
Morgan’s CICS uniquely aligns with Amazon’s Career Choice as both are rooted in addressing the professional and educational aspirations of today’s workforce. The Amazon employees coming to Morgan will first interface with CICS for an assessment of their educational aspirations and guidance for enrolling as a beginning student seeking to pursue an undergraduate degree or as a college reentry candidate for the “Morgan Completes You” initiative.
Morgan Completes You offers eight available degree tracks with an interdisciplinary curriculum for students with 60+ transfer credits seeking to complete their degrees. Amazon employees can pursue bachelor’s degrees in Interdisciplinary Engineering, Information, and Computational Sciences; Interdisciplinary Sciences; Interdisciplinary Health and Human Sciences; Interdisciplinary Organizational Administration; Interdisciplinary Educational Studies; Interdisciplinary Technology Services; Interdisciplinary Studies in Societal Equity, and Urbanism; or Interdisciplinary Global Perspectives and Practices.
Launched in fall 2021, CICS provides a range of degree programs to meet the needs of a diverse student body. Program degree requirements are structured to offer maximum flexibility to a wide range of students, including non-traditional students, returning students, working adults, and students who need or prefer distance education. The interdisciplinary nature of these degrees permits students to draw from expertise and resources across campus to design a program of study aligned with local, national and global workforce opportunities.