Ashley Boudreaux, an operations manager at Jefferson Health, would like to run a hospital someday.
“I would really like to make it to the C-suite — be a CEO,” said Boudreaux, 37, who works at the medical group’s Philadelphia and Montgomery County sites.
So, without quitting her job, Boudreaux pursued her undergraduate degree in health administration with the University of Phoenix. She graduated in 2023, and now she’s on track to get her master’s in business in November. She’s done all her coursework while working full-time.
It wasn’t easy, Boudreaux said.
“You’re just moving constantly,” she said. “When I look back, I’m like, I don’t know how I did it.”
It helped that Jefferson provided some financial support for Boudreaux’s education.
More than 40% of employers offer this benefit, according to Alex Alonso, chief knowledge officer at SHRM, a human resources association. That number has waned a bit in recent years, but some large local employers still do so.
They include Comcast, which offers tuition reimbursement as an employee benefit and works with Drexel University to shape several master’s programs for tech workers. Another is Aramark, which covers up to the full cost of tuition for eligible hourly employees, and tuition assistance for salaried employees. And Philadelphia’s city workers get tuition discounts at more than a dozen local colleges.
The majority of Philadelphia’s workforce haven’t graduated from college, though tens of thousands of residents have taken college classes without earning a degree.
For many, completing a four-year degree would still prove beneficial, said Sean Vereen, president and CEO of nonprofit Heights Philadelphia, which connects young people with education and career opportunities.
“The college degree is not the only way to get to economic success, … [but] there is a connection between your ability to have stronger credentials and your ability to move economically,” Vereen said.
Why workplaces offer tuition assistance
Federal tax incentives have encouraged employers to assist with education costs, said Alonso of SHRM. The benefit also helps companies compete for good hires, he noted.
Most commonly, Alonso said, employers offer up to $5,250 per employee per year. That’s the maximum they can give toward education costs without the employee paying taxes on it. Workers are often required to show that the education is related to their job or career, so they “can actually bring back what they learn to their workplace,” he said.
Sometimes getting additional education, including short-term microcredentials, are prerequisite to a promotion, said Phil Brooks, a vice president at nonprofit Graduate Philadelphia, which supports adult students.
Hurdles for worker-students
Getting a degree while working full-time can mean early mornings, later nights, giving up weekend time, or even using lunch breaks to squeeze in school work.
Other challenges can include transportation for in-person programs or access to a computer and reliable internet connection, says Brooks. Students who owe money to a school where they were previously enrolled might also be held back from transferring or finishing their degree.
Graduate Philadelphia sometimes helps students negotiate with schools to decrease that amount owed, “literally removing this barrier as much as we can,” Brooks said.
Aspiring hospital executive Boudreaux’s advice? Don’t quit.
“Slow progress is still progress,” she said. “A lot of times, when we start off on a journey, we see the entire staircase, but not realizing that it takes one step at a time to get to the top.”
Expert tips for pursuing a degree while working:
- Figure out what education benefits your employer offers. — Phil Brooks, Graduate Philadelphia
- Meet with your employer’s HR team and your managers about how your degree will bring value and innovation to your workplace. — Alex Alonso, SHRM
- Not all credentials or degrees may pay off in the same way, and some institutions are creating programs for revenue. Ask for advice and assess which program is best suited to help you, not just cost you. — Sean Vereen, Heights Philadelphia
Getting the promotion
When Nicole Henderson, 38, graduated high school, going to college right away wasn’t an option.
“It just didn’t make sense for our family,” she said. “We just couldn’t afford it.”
Years later, while working at a trading firm, she started pursuing a bachelor’s in accounting. But she put it on hold after a semester when she learned her employer, who encouraged her to go back to school, wouldn’t cover her tuition.
Five years ago, while searching for work as an executive assistant, she saw a role open up at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia that didn’t require a bachelor’s degree. She got the job and soon felt the urge to continue advancing her career.
“I’m now at this huge organization with all these opportunities,” Henderson said. “I was like, oh, man, eventually I’m going to have to have this bachelor’s degree.”
In 2023, she started working toward that undergraduate degree again. Her colleagues at CHOP were supportive, and she was given flexibility to tune into classes from work sometimes, or work remotely on the days she had a lot of studying to do. CHOP also reimburses a portion of her tuition and has a student loan repayment program. Without that financial support, Henderson says she wouldn’t have pursued the degree.
She also got a scholarship from the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia, which annually gives $5,000 to undergraduate women working at member organizations. Boudreaux, of Jefferson, was also a recipient.
Juggling work and school can be exhausting, Henderson said. She slept through the day some Saturdays because her “brain was just so overloaded with information.”
But she got her bachelor’s in business from Temple University in December and walked across the stage at graduation in May.
Her classes gave her a new awareness of what’s important to bosses and leaders at her organization, she said, and “how to speak their language.”
She also negotiated a promotion from executive associate to project manager, with a raise.
Now she doesn’t have to wonder “how am I going to convince people that I’m qualified to do this?” she said. “I kind of already have this degree that says that for me.”