BMCC Partners With Amazon to Offer the Company’s N.Y. Hourly Employees Tuition Benefits so They Can Pursue Degrees

Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC/CUNY) will be part of a new partnership between the City University of New York and Amazon which allows the company’s hourly employees — current Amazon worker only — to attend college to further their career opportunities. Starting in January 2022, through Amazon’s Career Choice program, the company will provide an annual benefit covering tuition and select fees for all qualifying hourly employees accepted into BMCC.

“Education can unlock opportunity and prosperity for New Yorkers, no matter what background or zip code. We must continue to invest in community colleges, workforce development, and opportunities for career training,” said New York Governor Kathy Hochul. “This collaboration with CUNY will provide greater access to education and opportunity, and complement our efforts to grow our economy and expand workforce development across the state.”

“We cannot be a prosperous city without the collaboration of private partners to help create efficient educational and career pipelines,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “This is what I call ‘Get Stuff Done’ and I’m grateful Amazon is working with the city to launch this joint educational partnership. Thanks to the collaboration between CUNY’s Career Success Initiatives and Amazon’s Career Choice, thousands of New Yorkers will gain access to an Associate or Bachelor’s degree and training to further their careers.”

Starting with an initial focus on Associate (such as those earned at BMCC) and Bachelor’s degrees, the initiative is open to any major of study at any of the participating eight CUNY colleges in all five New York City boroughs. CUNY’s partnership, the first for Amazon in New York State, is part of a national commitment by Amazon to provide educational and upskilling opportunities to more than 750,000 hourly employees at four national and more than 140 local universities and colleges.

“This important partnership is a powerful example of how the private sector can join forces with the City University of New York to advance workers’ education, promote economic mobility and help rebuild New York City’s post-pandemic economy all at the same time,” said CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “We thank Amazon for its commitment to higher education for its employees and look forward to working with them while expanding CUNY’s role as one of the nation’s premier engines of economic opportunity.”

Through this collaboration, New York City-based Amazon workers will have access to over 500 Associate and Bachelor’s degree programs offered online or in-person, including in-demand fields such as technology, healthcare, and green energy.

This initial cohort of CUNY colleges represent a footprint in each borough to provide locations in physical proximity to Amazon worksites. The complete list of eight CUNY colleges in the cohort are Bronx Community College, Borough of Manhattan Community College, the City College of New York, the College of Staten Island, the CUNY School of Professional Studies, Kingsborough Community College, LaGuardia Community College and Queens College.

Following today’s announcement, Career Choice now works with more than 180 education providers to deliver education to employees.

“Working at Amazon has made me realize how important data can be to a business’ success,” said Afor Ukoha, an employee at Amazon’s fulfillment center in Staten Island, New York. “I enjoy solving problems and have a background in computers, so the Career Choice program supports me in expanding my skillset in something I am passionate about. With Amazon’s help, I am able to receive my education for free, while also working with my schedule to make sure I can still work.”

Career training is just one of the industry-leading benefits that Amazon offers to its team. In addition, Amazon pays employees an average starting wage of $18 per hour, which is more than double the federal minimum wage, and provides comprehensive health benefits, paid time off, up to 20 weeks fully paid parental leave, and additional benefits for employees and their families.

“At Amazon, we’re committed to empowering our employees by providing them access to the education and training they need to grow their careers, whether that’s with us or elsewhere,” said Carley Graham Garcia, Head of Community Affairs at Amazon in New York. “We’re thrilled today to be partnering with CUNY on our Career Choice program to give our employees access to pursue the education path that fits their passions. Whether employees are looking to finish their Bachelor’s degree at CUNY or build on their foundational skills of English proficiency or GED preparation with our national partners, we’re prepared to meet our employees wherever they are on their educational journey.”

With Career Choice, Amazon works to make it easy for employees to advance their education—even building classrooms on-site in many of its buildings. Employees can take classes online, in-person at a local university, or on-site in one of the over 110 Career Choice classrooms located in fulfillment centers in 37 states. Since launching in 2012, Career Choice has helped provide education for more than 50,000 employees. As of this announcement, Amazon’s Career Choice program works with more than 180 education providers across the U.S., which along with colleges and universities includes partners providing industry certifications, English language proficiency, high school completion programs, and college preparatory courses. Career Choice is one of nine free skills training and education programs that Amazon offers to its employees as part of its Upskilling 2025 pledge.

Additional partners include Southern New Hampshire University, Colorado State University – Global, Western Governors University, and National University. Amazon will also partner with Amazon also partners with GEDWorks and Smart Horizons to provide employees with free high school completion and GED preparation, Voxy EnGen and goFLUENT to provide English language proficiency training, and Outlier to provide college preparation courses.

 

Learn more about Career Choice.

Learn more about Amazon’s $1.2 billion investment to upskill 300,000 employees in the next four years.

Jobs are available across New York. Interested candidates can see all open positions.

Learn more about CUNY Career Success Initiatives.

 

 

Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) is part of the City University of New York (CUNY), awarding associate degrees in more than 50 fields and ranked #1 among community colleges nationwide in granting associate degrees to minority students, according to data from the U.S. Department of Education. BMCC is a diverse teaching and learning community committed to advancing equity and the intellectual and personal growth of students. Working to strengthen a culture of care inside and outside the classroom, the faculty and staff of BMCC share a passion for learning with students from around the world, and strive to increase degree completion, successful transfer, career achievement and service and leadership within the BMCC community, New York City, and beyond. Visit: http://www.bmcc.cuny.

The City University of New York is the nation’s largest urban public university, a transformative engine of social mobility that is a critical component of the lifeblood of New York City. Founded in 1847 as the nation’s first free public institution of higher education, CUNY today has seven community colleges, 11 senior colleges and seven graduate or professional institutions spread across New York City’s five boroughs, serving over 260,000 undergraduate and graduate students and awarding 55,000 degrees each year. CUNY’s mix of quality and affordability propels almost six times as many low-income students into the middle class and beyond as all the Ivy League colleges combined. More than 80 percent of the University’s graduates stay in New York, contributing to all aspects of the city’s economic, civic and cultural life and diversifying the city’s workforce in every sector. CUNY’s graduates and faculty have received many prestigious honors, including 13 Nobel Prizes and 26 MacArthur “Genius” Grants. The University’s historic mission continues to this day: provide a first-rate public education to all students, regardless of means or background.

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Amazon strives to be Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company, Earth’s Best Employer, and Earth’s Safest Place to Work. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Career Choice, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Just Walk Out technology, Amazon Studios, and The Climate Pledge are some of the things pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.