Education is expensive and the prices for tuition and fees continue to rise at colleges and universities across the country. Participating in a tuition reimbursement program saves the student/employee a great deal of money. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the cost of undergraduate tuition, fees and room and board in 2007 to 2008 was approximately $11,578 a year at public institutions. With reimbursement programs, employees don't need to go into debt to further their education. Some programs won't only reimburse the cost of classes but also the required materials and textbooks.
There are not usually any negative aspects to learning something new. Taking college courses increase and hone the skills employees already posses and teach new ones. Most jobs evolve over time and what an employee needed to know to perform a job 20 years ago isn't always enough today. Employees whose positions rely heavily on computer software and programs need additional training periodically to keep up with the quick turnovers in the IT field. Receiving this training from a college or university is advantageous to learning through a group training session--a colleague may only have a minor amount of professional training. Many jobs are also shifting toward more multi-dimensional roles and in a trade position, knowing how to weld and work as a carpenter will increase an employees' value.
Completing or supplementing a college degree is motivation for using tuition reimbursement. Students feel a sense of accomplishment after finishing what may have started years before. The additional education can raise an employees' pay grade and make them eligible for promotion within the company. An employees' value within their company improves and gives them more confidence in their job performance. Some employers use tuition reimbursement as a recruiting tool and offer the program to current college students or recent graduates in return for a job contract. The knowledge that an employer is seeking a specific person out is encouraging to most individuals.