Community - T+D Online - reimbursement of continuing education expenses - Brief Article

T+D, August, 2002

Neilmac

In a recent post to our Performance Improvement forum, Andrea sought feedback regarding tuition reimbursement. Her company has about 2000 employees and is in the midst of enhancing its current reimbursement program. Here's what a few respondents had to say.

We reimburse any course 100 percent, regardless of grade. Academic results are not necessarily relative to practical implementation.

For courses over $1000, we request that employees sign a continuation of service agreement for a period of time, which requires that they pay back the depreciated amount if they leave within that period. I'm unsure of your legal position in the United States, but most employees are great with that. The time is relevant to cost: US$1000 and up equals one year, $3000 and up equals two years, $5000 and up equals three years.

We simply depreciate the value of the course over the agreed-upon timeframe. That may sound negative, but the value of courses to an employer is delivered over time and, thus, we attempt to retain people for that period.