Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums College CEO Paying for College Tuition

I've been loosely following the "Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be" thread (it's become too deep for this non-gifted mom!), but wanted to find out how others thought about a news story I saw on NBR this morning about the CEO of Boxed using his own money to pay for the full tuition of his employees' children. There's no limit to the money allowed and the kids won't have to come work for the company after graduation. I thought this was unusual and wondered if others here thought this would be a benefit added to most in the future when they sign on with a company.

Here's a link to a WP article on it.

This kind of benefit used to be much more common, actually-- at least in academia and in some corporate environs, it did.

I predict it becoming LESS common with time, not more so. Unfortunate, but when even universities no longer offer this benefit in-house, to their own employees, why would anyone else?

I agree with HK, that this will become more rare, not less. Companies tend to view most of their employees, with a few exceptions, as interchangeable parts. To retain those exceptional people, they usually just offer a private compensation package, which could be used to pay for anything, including college.

To borrow a sports metaphor, companies used to draft and groom their own employees, but have ditched that model in favor of free agency (cheaper in the short run, and short-term is all that matters anymore). Paying for college is very much a draft/groom strategy, because you're paying a lot for that parent's continued loyalty, and also for the significant chance that the child will be attracted to working there, too.

Still, it's always great to see an exceptional CEO who can take a long view. Investing in human beings tends to be a high-yield transaction.

I thought Elon Musk's news about creating a school was more relevant today - http://education.penelopetrunk.com/...chooling-elon-musk-leads-with-ad-astra/. BUT with five boys, I can understand why he created a learning environment for them. One pg/2e boy is enough:).