New Program Designed to Help Crewmembers
Complete Their College Degrees Utilizes Alternative Credit Options
and Partnerships With JetBlue Covering Most Costs
JetBlue (NASDAQ:JBLU) today announced JetBlue Scholars, an
innovative new program that offers crewmembers an opportunity to
earn a fully accredited college degree with JetBlue covering most
of the cost. The program takes an unconventional approach to
employer-sponsored education by providing alternative college
credit options and going well beyond standard tuition
reimbursement. JetBlue Scholars addresses the needs of those
working full-time with college advisement and resources.
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JetBlue Scholars is Inspiring Education.
JetBlue Scholars is an unconventional approach to
employer-sponsored education by providing alternative college
credit options, going well beyond standard tuition
reimbursement.
Traditional paths to higher education can be overwhelming.
Consistent with its mission of inspiring humanity, JetBlue is
bringing humanity into the process by easing complexity for
crewmembers. Through a pioneering partnership model, JetBlue has
unbundled the higher education system, step-by-step, to make it
easier for crewmembers who have some previous college credit but do
not know how to move forward to complete their degree. JetBlue
Scholars provides a clearer path and converts aviation and military
training and other professional certificates into college credit,
helping to reduce the time to complete a bachelor’s degree for
crewmembers.
More than 36 million Americans have some college credits but no
degree (a), often due to cost, busy work schedules and family
commitments. According to a government data analysis by financial
aid experts at Edvisors, the average student graduates $33,000 in
debt. Under the JetBlue Scholars program, crewmembers will only be
responsible for $3,500 in tuition and even that may be covered by
JetBlue scholarships or Pell grants which means a degree may be
completely free for those with financial need.
“Crewmembers asked for help earning degrees and we knew we could
take a big step beyond tuition reimbursement,” said Bonny Simi,
founder of JetBlue Scholars. “We rethought the employer’s role in
investing in education. Utilizing the alternative credit model to
unbundle the higher education process, we’re eliminating some of
the complexity. We hope to inspire other employers to adopt this
model which will help dramatically increase the percentage of
Americans who have access to post-secondary degrees.”
As part of the initial launch, more than 400 JetBlue crewmembers
are currently advancing toward their bachelor’s degrees. The first
class is scheduled to complete curriculum requirements in May 2016.
The first graduation ceremony will take place in September with
more than 50 crewmembers slated to receive their degrees.
Rethinking and Innovating in Higher Ed
The JetBlue Scholars model focuses on just learning and has
removed some of the complexity and cost. Eliminating the costs of
classrooms, dorms, sports teams and hardcover books, JetBlue
Scholars focuses on a cohesive curriculum of self-contained and
self-directed online courses and e-books that lead to a degree.
The program opens periodically for enrollment. Crewmembers are
assigned a Success Coach and share their education background,
including transcripts from previous coursework, copies of licenses
or certifications held, records from past military, police or fire
training and any other experiences or documentation that
demonstrates past college level learning. Many crewmembers already
hold special licenses or professional certifications from the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Much of this is worth
college credit. Students receive credit for what they already
know:
- The main requirement is at least 15
prior college credits earned from an accredited two- or four-year
college and two years of service at JetBlue.
- JetBlue pilot and dispatch training is
reviewed and may be approved for college credit. College credit is
granted for pilot, dispatch and maintenance certificates.
- Training and licenses in the fields of
medicine, first response (emergency medical technician, paramedic,
police and fire), human resources, information technology and
military training are also eligible for college credits.
The assigned Success Coach then helps crewmembers map a pathway
to a bachelor’s degree in aviation, liberal studies, information
technology or business from Thomas Edison State University.
Coursework is completed through three innovative learning
platforms – Sophia.org, StraighterLine.com and Study.com. These
American Council on Education (ACE-credit) (b) courses offer a variety of online videos,
lectures and other content that allows for flexible schedules and
self-motivated learning. JetBlue is also developing new courses
internally which prepares crewmembers for college level exams
provided by the College Board and Thomas Edison State University.
These courses utilize open source material from providers such as
Saylor.org and OpenStaxCollege.org. Courses typically take one to
three months to complete and all costs are covered by JetBlue.
After each course is completed and the final exam is passed,
JetBlue facilitates the transfer of college credit(s) to Thomas
Edison State University.
Once crewmembers have earned 114-117 credits, they begin
completing final online courses with JetBlue’s launch partner
Thomas Edison State University. Once 120 credits are reached, the
bachelor’s degree from Thomas Edison State University is
conferred.
“We are honored to partner with JetBlue to help its crewmembers
complete their degrees and achieve their personal and professional
goals,” said Dr. George A. Pruitt, president of Thomas Edison State
University. “JetBlue Scholars is an innovative program that
leverages the core competencies of our University – delivering
flexible, high-quality collegiate programs to self-directed adults
and assessing college-level knowledge that has been acquired
outside the traditional classroom. We are very excited about our
role in the launch of this unique and important partnership.”
Crewmembers Speak Up About Degree Opportunities
- “When it comes to mapping my college
degree path, my journey has been one of discovery, excitement and
pleasure – thanks to the guidance I’ve received from the JetBlue
Scholars team. I love being able to see where I’ve been and what I
need to reach my end goal,” Bonnie Merritt, Reservations
Supervisor, JetBlue and current JetBlue Scholar.
- “I am on track to finish my next course
in two months and it takes a lot of focus and dedication. While
these courses are very flexible, and I can do them on my own time,
it is still a lot of work. After all, it is college,” Elsy Viala,
General Manager, Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, JetBlue and current JetBlue
Scholar.
- “It actually dawned on me when I
started getting my transcripts, that I had a lot of credits. I had
never seen my military transcript either. I was surprised to see
how close I was to getting my bachelor’s degree. I want to finish
what I started and I’m doing it through JetBlue Scholars,” Roxanne
Hawkins, Dispatcher, JetBlue and current JetBlue Scholar.
JetBlue Scholars was designed based on crewmembers’ feedback to
meet their needs, interests and career progression goals. Not only
is this an innovative retention vehicle, it helps with internal
advancement and has already positively impacted crewmember
engagement. Upon revealing plans for JetBlue Scholars, in less than
one week, 2,500 crewmembers (approximately 14% of JetBlue’s
workforce) responded to indicate their interest.
For more information, visit www.jetbluescholars.com.
About JetBlue
JetBlue is New York's Hometown Airline™ and a leading carrier in
Boston, Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood, Los Angeles (Long Beach),
Orlando and San Juan. JetBlue carries more than 32 million
customers a year to 96 cities in the U.S., Caribbean, and Latin
America with an average of 900 daily flights. For more information,
please visit JetBlue.com.
(a)
According to the Adult College Completion
Network, a key Lumina Foundation commitment to increasing adult
college completion and the National Student Clearinghouse Research
Center.
(b)
The American Council on Education's
College Credit Recommendation Service (CREDIT) was established in
1974 to connect workplace learning with colleges and universities
by helping students gain access to academic credit for formal
training taken outside traditional degree programs. More
information can be found at:
http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Pages/Adult-Learners-Using-Your-ACE-Credit-Recommendations.aspx
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