JetBlue Scholars Named a Winner of the U.S. Department of Education’s ‘2018 Reimagining the Higher Education Ecosystem Ch...
October 16 2018 - 1:46PM
Business Wire
-- JetBlue’s Employer-Sponsored College Degree
Program Also Awarded the “People’s Choice” Award, Receiving the
Highest Score during the Public Voting Period --
JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU) and its employer-sponsored college degree
program – JetBlue Scholars – was recently named a winner of the
U.S. Department of Education’s “2018 Reimagining the Higher
Education Ecosystem Challenge.” The U.S. Department of Education
announced the winners last week at a special ceremony in
Washington, D.C. JetBlue Scholars offers the airline’s crewmembers
the opportunity to earn a fully-accredited associate or bachelor’s
degree with JetBlue covering most of the cost.
JetBlue Scholars was also one of two programs that received the
“People’s Choice” award after receiving the highest score during
public voting period. The JetBlue Scholars program features
high-quality online courses at a fraction of the cost of
traditional college. Since the program launch in 2016, 135 JetBlue
crewmembers have earned college degrees. Forty additional
crewmembers are slated to receive their degrees from program
partner – Thomas Edison State University by the end of this
year.
The Reimagining the Higher Education Ecosystem Challenge
welcomed bold visions for an educational ecosystem that would
broaden access to post-secondary education and provide critical
opportunities for all learners to gain the skills they need to
thrive among rapidly changing economic conditions. The U.S.
Department of Education called upon educators, students,
policymakers, industry leaders, technology developers, and the
public for ideas that ensure equity of access to transformative
learning experiences enabled by technology.
“We’re in a competitive industry and we want our crewmembers to
also be competitive for positions within JetBlue and beyond,” said
Rachel McCarthy, Senior Vice President Talent and Learning,
JetBlue. “Our goal is for crewmembers to continue to grow and
earning their degree helps open up additional opportunities.”
Aligned with JetBlue’s mission of inspiring humanity, JetBlue
Scholars is making the process of earning a college degree more
inclusive and accessible than ever. The cost of college is at an
all-time high, and more than 31 million Americans have some college
education and no degree. JetBlue recognized the dilemma faced by
many of its own crewmembers and charted a new, low-cost,
high-quality path to make college affordable again.
JetBlue Scholars utilizes low cost, high quality alternative
college credit options including new technology-based learning
platforms like Study.com, Sophia.org and StraighterLine.com. These
courses are accepted for college credit at Thomas Edison State
University, and are a fraction of the cost of traditional college
classes. JetBlue covers the full cost of the degree up to the final
semester.
This program gives crewmembers the flexibility to learn at their
own pace. The program offers step-by-step support 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’s goal
is to make higher education more inclusive and affordable so that
any crewmember who wants a college degree is able to earn one.
How it Works – Once enrolled in JetBlue Scholars,
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 which is worth
college credit. The crewmember then takes online courses as guided
by their coach.
When crewmembers have earned 114-117 credits, they enroll for
the final semester online with JetBlue’s launch partner – Thomas
Edison State University. When 120 credits are reached, the
bachelor’s degree from Thomas Edison State University is conferred.
Scholars are able to obtain degrees in aviation, liberal studies or
business through JetBlue Scholars.
JetBlue Scholars has proven to be a valuable retention and
development tool, leading to increased crewmember engagement and
loyalty, resulting in a greater return on investment for JetBlue.
For more information, visit www.jetbluescholars.com.
U.S. Department of Higher Education Reimagining the Higher
Education Ecosystem Challenge – More than 160 teams responded
to this challenge, providing bold visions and transformative pilots
for new pathways for postsecondary education and lifelong learning,
a marketplace to search for innovative educational providers; and
new technologies including virtual reality, artificial
intelligence, and blockchain. View the full list of the 25
finalists at https://tech.ed.gov/challenge. Over the coming months,
the U.S. Department of Education intends to continue to work with
all 25 finalists, supporting these teams to launch pilots that will
transform the ecosystem of the future.
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 40 million
customers a year to 103 cities in the U.S., Caribbean, and Latin
America with an average of 1,000 daily flights. For more
information please visit www.jetblue.com.
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