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Comment by ismarc | Hacker News Reader

While I wasn't getting reimbursement, I was working roughly 60 hours a week on the assembly floor at Dell while taking a full load of classes (12 credit hours). Before any financial aid or assistance, tuition and books at the community college I was going to was around 1800 a semester. After financial aid, it was around 800. This is a great program for those who cannot live on financial aid alone (need to work for whatever reasons) and have the drive to better themselves. I didn't get a degree, but not because I was working so much.

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or maybe it was because you were working too much? You shouldn't sell yourself short or overlook the affects of overwork on a persons ability to deal with outside forces.

Additionally, i think ALL reimbursement programs are great. But as a comparison, this one is kind of shit. 2k a year max helps with books. That's about it. It is hardly an "Amazon Sends its workforce to school" Program. There is a regional gas station/mini mart here in WA state that offers a better program and you only have to work 35 hours a week.

When I had to stop taking courses was about a year after I had saved up enough money that savings + GI Bill + financial aid would cover tuition, books and living expenses. There was a paperwork screwup on my financial aid that meant I couldn't pay tuition which meant I couldn't get the GI Bill payments which meant I couldn't cover rent which meant I had to get a job. The end result being I never had a need to go back to school.

while their amount per year is low, for low to middle income earners, it's enough to be the difference between not having the option and cutting back a bit to be able to go to school. Sure, there's no way to have it pay for a state or ivy league school, but if your only skill is low-level employee in a warehouse, working towards an associates degree or taking management courses can greatly improve your station.

Not to mention Dick's burgers: College, vocational/self-improvement scholarships up to $22,000 over 4 years to employees working 20 hours per week for at least six months and continuing to work at least 20 hours per week while attending school. http://www.ddir.com/employment

yeah i completely forgot about that. that's a really cool program and its for people who work in essentially the lowest income positions available in the state.

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