The University of Oklahoma has joined forces with online retailer Amazon as a Career Choice partner, allowing more than 750,000 Amazon operations employees in the United States the opportunity to continue their education with the university’s top-ranked online undergraduate degree and certificate programs.
Amazon’s Career Choice program is an education benefit that empowers Amazon’s hourly employees to learn new skills for career success by removing the financial constraints of going back to school. As part of Career Choice, employees who have worked at Amazon for at least 90 continuous days are eligible to apply for pre-paid college tuition, fees and textbook costs while they pursue an undergraduate degree or certificate.
"The efforts of Amazon employees touch millions of lives every day, and we look forward to helping them reach the next level in their careers."
“We are thrilled to provide educational opportunities to Amazon employees in Oklahoma and beyond,” said Martha Banz, dean of the College of Professional and Continuing Studies. “This collaboration aligns with the university’s goals to upskill and reskill the workforce in critical occupations across the state. The efforts of Amazon employees touch millions of lives every day, and we look forward to helping them reach the next level in their careers.”
Career Choice was designed to cover three possible educational paths for Amazon employees – from enhancing their basic knowledge by assisting with the completion of high school diplomas, GEDs and English as a Second Language proficiency certifications, to upskilling for new positions through education and job training, to earning credits toward a bachelor’s degree or undergraduate certificate.
By choosing to use their Career Choice benefit at OU, eligible Amazon employees will be able to pursue online bachelor’s degrees in organizational leadership, criminal justice, integrative studies or lifespan care administration, among other options.
“We know how hard it can be for individuals with job and family responsibilities to go back to school or start a new degree program,” Banz said. “Our student-centered approach to online and distance learning is designed with the needs of individuals like Amazon employees in mind, offering them the flexibility they need to not only reach their full potential in the classroom, but to achieve great things in their professional and personal lives, as well.”
Interested Amazon employees can visit amazon.pacs.ou.edu for more information on how to use their Career Choice benefits to enroll at the University of Oklahoma. To learn more about additional educational opportunities available to working adults, visit pacs.ou.edu.
