Your employer offers employee education assistance benefits like tuition reimbursement. You know that you want to go back to school and earn new credentials, but when you do the math, you still feel overwhelmed by potential out-of-pocket costs.

Does this sound familiar?

If so, you’re like many adult learners who want to take advantage of their employer-sponsored education benefits but are worried about additional costs you may need to cover.

Here at EdAssist™, our coaches work with adult learners to help navigate their options to find the right programs, helping them to maximize their benefits.

Brendan Nelson— who has been an academic coach for EdAssist for 10 years now— shares some of his best tips for how to get the most out of an employer’s education assistance benefits.

Review your policy carefully

Brendan repeatedly stressed that the first thing you should do is review your employer’s education assistance policy carefully.

The policy will detail information like:

• The amount of tuition or education costs your employer will cover in a calendar year.
• What types of programs or colleges are covered.
• Which employees are eligible for education assistance.
• If there are any processes required to obtain reimbursement, like receiving a passing grade or submitting your grades by a set date.

It’s imperative to make sure that you understand your company’s policy so you can make sure that the programs or schools you’re interested in are covered. Understanding eligibility can be tricky, since schools sometimes partner with third-parties to offer specific programs; this may result in a program not being eligible for tuition reimbursement from your company.

EdAssist’s academic coaches regularly help prospective students ensure that their desired programs are eligible, but Brendan says that it’s always a good idea to talk to policy experts if your employer offers them as a resource. They can help answer all of your questions, and may even be able to direct you to other perks you weren’t aware of, like student loan repayment benefits.

Choose programs with lower-cost tuition

Tuition costs vary significantly from program to program, and in many cases you can get the most out of tuition assistance benefits by choosing a school with lower tuition costs.

Community colleges and local colleges are often good options, as they typically offer lower-cost tuition than public universities. In-state public universities, however, are more cost-effective than most private schools.

If you’re pursuing a formal degree, you can always start with community college for your prerequisites or an associate’s degree. This can reduce the overall cost of your classes, and may help you get more courses covered each year under your benefits.

You should also look at schools that partner with your education assistance provider. EdAssist, for example, partners with over 230+ schools to offer discounted tuition costs to program participants. You can view partner schools through your EdAssist portal.

Academic coaches can help you determine which schools may be the most cost-effective, and keep in mind that EdAssist’s academic coaches will help you determine what’s best for you— they won’t limit their recommendations based on partnerships.

Pick a strategic start time

Each employer has unique offers for their education assistance benefits, but it’s common that many offer a set amount of tuition reimbursement (like $5,000) annually. 

There are cases when you can strategically choose a program start date to get the most out of your benefits.

Let’s say you’re taking a graduate certificate program that requires three courses and each course costs $950. You were originally thinking about waiting to start next spring and taking one course during the spring, summer, and fall semesters. If you do this, you’ll be responsible for $850 out of pocket since your employer has benefit limits based on the calendar year.

If you apply to start this fall, however, you could complete one course in the fall, and the next two in spring and summer. By dividing up the courses between different calendar years, the full certificate program would be covered.

Consider different program structures

We’re long past the days when continued education meant you had to get formal bachelor’s or master’s degrees, which were completed by taking courses in structured semesters.

There are multiple different options now to consider.

Stackable certificates and skill-based courses are one popular option that are covered by over half of education assistance programs and cost much less than formal degree programs.

If you want to become a manager and need to demonstrate competency but don’t want to spend the time to get a master’s in business administration (MBA), for example, you can consider a management certificate program that requires less time and funding. These can be powerful resume builders, and in some cases, you may be able to earn academic credit that can count towards a relevant degree later on.

Some schools also offer flat-rate pricing. This pricing model allows students to pay a single flat rate for a single period of time, regardless of how many classes you can take. It’s important to note that this option may only be cost-effective when you’re able to take multiple classes at once, which can be challenging for many adult learners who are working full-time jobs.

Review all financing options

Tuition coverage isn’t the only benefit that comes with some employer education assistance benefits; some employers offer access to EdAssist’s academic coaches, for example, and some offer access to career and financial coaches, too.

Take full advantage of this benefit. Financial coaches can help you assess all of your funding options to cover any costs leftover after your tuition reimbursement.

In some cases, adult learners may benefit from completing degree programs quicker, even if it means paying more out of pocket. This is particularly true when the degree they’re working towards is a barrier to the next level of their career or a career change that comes with a pay bump or significant advancement opportunities.

Financial coaches can discuss options including scholarships, financial aid, and different types of student loans. They can also help you determine what you can afford and set a repayment plan long-term.

Bolster your benefits with scholarships

Some adult learners are able to leverage employer education benefits and scholarships together so they can complete multiple courses quickly without having substantial (or any) costs out of pocket.

Academic coaches may be able to help point you in the right direction based on your desired education program. You can also review the following:

• Check out the college board for scholarship information.
• Use scholarship databases like Scholarly.com.
• Talk to the college directly, even if it’s your second year in the program; sometimes, they may have funds available for those who ask to help retain students.

Be mindful of tax implications

If your employer offers over $5,250 in education assistance benefits and you take advantage of them in a single calendar year, there are tax implications to keep in mind. In many cases, assistance provided above that level is considered taxable wages by the IRS.

If your employer does offer those benefits and you plan to use them, you can talk to your accountant to understand how this will impact what taxes you may owe. Financial coaches can help point you in the right direction if needed.

Final thoughts

There are plenty of ways adult learners can navigate their education assistance benefits to get the most out of them, regardless of the employer’s actual reimbursement limits. Making strategic decisions like when to start classes or opting for lower-cost programs can help you stretch your reimbursement dollars further, reducing the amount you may need to pay out of pocket.

It’s important to keep in mind that each situation is different. There may be some cases, for example, when the prestige of a higher-cost school is a factor worth paying for. Brendan noted that this may be the case for people very early in their careers who want to work at certain financial firms who value the prestige of the school.

He also shared that there may be someone who lives in New York City and wants to take advantage of in-person networking a certain school or location offers. There would likely be much more cost-effective options for this student, including plenty of online options, but they’d be missing out on a key benefit they wanted. In this case, it would make sense to incur the extra out-of-pocket costs.

He recommends considering your return on investment when balancing these decisions. Will the degree and credential be worth it? If you get the $2,000 graduate certificate, it could lead to a promotion that could earn you an extra $10,000 per year, for example, then that would be worth it.

It’s essential to consider your priorities, and then determine how to accomplish your specific goals. Once you do that, you can determine the best way to get the most out of your education benefits— whatever that looks like for you.