Expanding the Promise for 1.4 Million Walmart Associates

This time a year ago, Guild had the privilege of partnering with Walmart to help provide over a million Walmart associates with the most expansive education benefits ever offered by a U.S. retailer. Today, I’m thrilled to announce it’s getting even better.

This week, I’ve joined Walmart at its annual Shareholders’ meeting to announce the expansion of Walmart’s education benefits program, Live Better U, to include 14 new degrees and certificates in fields like cybersecurity and information technology, along with new university partners in Southern New Hampshire University, Wilmington University and Purdue Global University. The program is also expanding high school options, and offering graduation bonuses for thousands of associates.

It’s been thrilling to see the growth of this program over the past year. More than 7,500 associates have already been accepted into degree programs where they’ll pay just $1 per day for tuition -- students like Tracy Hutchens, a Walmart associate from Wisconsin who was inspired to go back to college to earn a bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management to make her father proud, or Janice Kennedy, a 20-year Walmart veteran from South Carolina and single mother of five who earned her high school degree in just six months. The success of Live Better U is a testament to the hard work and dedication of associates like Tracy and Janice, as well as Walmart's unwavering commitment to provide a best-in-class education benefits program.

The expansion of Live Better U is obviously great news for Walmart associates, but it’s also great for Walmart, which understands the future of retail and the importance of attracting and retaining, and upskilling high-quality employees who are prepared for the future of work. In expanding this program to include more degree options and choices for their associates, they’re helping build the next generation of leaders from within and differentiating themselves from their competition. And by offering programs in these new fields like computer science and cybersecurity, Walmart is enhancing its role as a tech leader, helping train the next generation of programmers, data engineers, and cyber specialists.

At Guild, doing good is synonymous with doing well as a business, and we believe the best way to do that is by increasing economic mobility for the approximately 64 million adults who lack the relevant education to survive and thrive in the economy of tomorrow. By providing ways for working adults to pursue their education, programs like Live Better U are transforming traditional paths to a college education, while helping companies like Walmart meet the needs of a changing workforce. For the thousands of Walmart students pursuing an education they never thought possible, it’s putting their dreams in reach.

Sounds like doing good *and* doing well to me.