Tech giant Amazon is pledging to subsidize the cost of tuition and fees for roughly 30,000 of its hourly workers across New York state who get accepted at one of eight participating CUNY colleges, company and university officials announced Thursday.
The program would allow eligible Amazon workers — full-time, hourly employees who’ve worked at the company for more than 90 days — to get up to $5,250 to cover costs at CUNY schools. Part-time Amazon employees can get up to half of that yearly subsidy.
Amazon officials said the move is part of the company’s $1.2 billion national initiative to subsidize higher education costs for a targeted 300,000 hourly employees. They didn’t say how much they expect to spend on the New York City effort, but Carley Graham-Garcia, Amazon’s head of community affairs for New York, said she expects “significant” participation.
The tech behemoth has expanded its footprint in the city in recent years, despite the aborted plan to build a second headquarters here. Amazon has at least 12 warehouses in the city, including a Staten Island warehouse where workers are expected to vote in March on whether to form a union.
Graham-Garcia said warehouse workers will be among those eligible for the CUNY subsidies, as well as other hourly workers.
The eight participating schools are Bronx Community College, Borough of Manhattan Community College, the City College of New York, the College of Staten Island, the CUNY School of Professional Studies, Kingsborough Community College, LaGuardia Community College and Queens College.
The colleges offer more flexible options for students working full-time, including night and online classes.
Yearly tuition at CUNY’s community colleges runs $4,800 a year, and could theoretically be covered entirely by the Amazon subsidy. Annual tuition at a four-year college is $6,930 and fees are usually several hundred dollars more.
Enrollment at CUNY’s community college is down significantly since the start of the pandemic, mirroring national trends. But CUNY Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez said the university system’s scholarship partnerships with employers happen “in good or bad enrollment times. We see this as part of our historic role in extending social mobility in New York City.”
In a statement, Gov. Hochul said the CUNY and Amazon collaboration “will provide greater access to education and opportunity, and complement our efforts to grow our economy and expand workforce development across the state.”
Amazon officials said the program is open to students enrolled or planning to enroll in any of the participating CUNY schools after January. The subsidies are direct payments to the schools, and accepting the financial support doesn’t require worker to commit to staying at Amazon for any length of time, Graham-Garcia said.
Students can get subsidized for both graduate or undergraduate programs.
