The Walt Disney Co. confirmed to HR Dive that the corporate shall be setting an annual funding cap per worker for its Disney Aspire program, which pays for worker schooling at sure establishments by a partnership with Guild Training.
By Nov. 27, Disney Aspire in-network colleges could have an annual funding cap of $5,250, equal to the IRS restrict on tax-free advantages for instructional help applications. This system can even not enable enrollment in grasp’s diploma applications; these at present enrolled shall be topic to the funding cap, in keeping with different reviews.
Whereas “debt-free” faculty tuition advantages took off within the years across the pandemic, the IRS cap is a typical restrict for firms to undertake in offering tuition help. Chipotle, for instance, which has supplied faculty tuition help by Guild since 2019, sponsors sure applications that it pays for fully, whereas different undergraduate levels in Guild’s catalog are topic to the $5,250 restrict.
Goal, which adopted a Guild program in 2021, follows an analogous sample, although it permits as much as $10,000 reimbursement for a grasp’s diploma program.
Response on-line from commenters who recognized themselves as Disney workers, referred to as forged members, indicated disappointment and shock, with some commenting on Reddit that that they had moved throughout the U.S. partially due to the corporate’s funding of sure teaching programs.
“Since Disney Aspire was first launched, we have now continued to evolve this system to fulfill the wants of our forged members and workers, in addition to the wants of our enterprise,” a Disney spokesperson advised HR Dive. “Disney Aspire continues to supply an evolving catalog of applications and diploma choices throughout varied fields of research, expertise and professions, offering our eligible workers the chance to pursue disciplines and diplomas together with highschool equivalency, English language studying, and undergraduate levels.”
Disney additionally highlighted its in-house “hands-on studying, coaching, and profession improvement experiences that assist workers and forged members to get to the place they need to go professionally.”
