10-08-2025
How CVS Health Is Helping Employees Earn Degrees (and At No Cost)
While tuition assistance programs are common among large companies, only 2% of employees take advantage of the benefit. A collaboration between CVS Health and EdAssist is changing that with an innovative program that lets employees earn college degrees — and at no cost.
The goal? To help CVS Health's employees take the next step in their personal and career journeys, while also helping the company fill hard-to-staff roles.
The Problem With Existing Tuition Reimbursement Programs
Why do so few employees take advantage of tuition reimbursement programs? It's a question I asked Diane Bartoli, SVP of EdAssist, a division of Bright Horizons that's a leading provider of workforce education and student loan solutions in a video interview.
Bartoli believes that a key barrier for most employees is that typical programs are designed so employees must pay for and complete courses before they are reimbursed. 'Many employees, especially front-line workers, can't always readily afford to cover the cost upfront.'
A second barrier is that the amount of the benefit is often less than the actual costs. A review of 25 tuition benefit programs from well-known companies shows that typical tuition reimbursement programs are often capped at $5,250 per year per employee. What's the magic number of $5,250? 'It's the limit the IRS allows companies to pay tax-free to its employees,' shared Bartoli.
CVS Health's Prescription For A Win-Win Tuition Assistance Program
Carmilla Tan, head of benefits at CVS Health, recently shared with me how the company collaborated with EdAssist to reimagine its tuition assistance program from a traditional tuition reimbursement program to an innovative one that allows employees to access over 80 programs at no cost, ranging from high school diplomas to graduate degrees.
Tan explained the program's four key attributes that make it easy for employees to begin their upskilling efforts. First, the program eliminates the need for employees to enroll and pay for their courses upfront. Rather, employees simply enroll in any courses from four pre-approved universities and the cost is covered.
Second, there is no limit to the number of courses employees can take. So, employees who want to fast-track their education don't have to hold back on the number of courses they take, because they don't have enough tuition assistance money to cover the costs.
Third, many of the course options allow for both traditional courses and self-paced online courses, which gives employees flexibility to fit the courses they take into their schedules.
Lastly, employees are paired with an EdAssist coach who works with them one-on-one to create a customized education plan based on the employee's educational interests and the amount of time they are willing to commit. Tan believes hands-on support is key to helping employees feel comfortable with getting past their hesitations.
But what if employees don't want to use one of these options? Fortunately, they can still participate in a traditional reimbursement program to pursue job-related degrees from any accredited university nationwide.
A Textbook Example Of Optimizing Tuition Assistance
Cecilia 'Cece' Smith is a textbook example of how tuition assistance programs can transform careers. When she joined the company five years ago, she couldn't have imagined she'd soon earn both bachelor's and master's degrees.
But when she heard about the CVS Health Tuition Assistance Program during the onboarding process, her life changed. With support from the program, she earned consecutive degrees in health administration — and all this while balancing full-time work and motherhood.
The program stood out to her, in part because it did not require any out-of-pocket expenses for enrollment. Cece already had an associate's degree, but she wanted to further her education, and the program offered her a path to achieve this without incurring additional costs.
She also appreciated that she could take classes at her convenience, including early in the morning or at night after she put her son to bed. 'I really wanted to show my son the value of working to make yourself better. So we would sit at the dinner table and do homework together. It was really cool to have study time together and taking the time to study didn't seem like such a burden,' she noted in an interview.
As Cece became comfortable taking classes, she grew more confident about increasing the number of courses she was taking, fast-tracking her to a bachelor's degree in health administration with a specialization in healthcare informatics. From there, she went on to earn her master's degree. She earned both in less than three years. 'I learned my skills and I earned my degrees,' she shared.
'Nobody can take that from me.'
While Cece openly knows she can take her skills to another company, she is loyal to CVS Health: 'I am very thankful that my managers encouraged me to continue learning and growing.' Cece has become a huge advocate for the program and actively encourages other employees to take advantage of it.
A Tuition Assistance Program Win-Win
The CVS Health tuition assistance program is a prescription for success, creating a true win-win for both employees like Cece and CVS Health. For example, since Cece participated in the joint CVS Health Tuition Assistance Program, she has been promoted twice and is now a senior manager supporting patient safety as part of the company's Medicare Star Data projects.
However, CVS Health is also winning with the program. Tan explained, 'The program is helping us upskill our current employees and fill critical skills gaps, such as how Cece has stepped into a high-demand, advanced data analytics role.'
While upskilling all employees is important, one job that's essential for CVS Health is its pharmacist positions. Pharmacy school applications have decreased by 60% in less than a decade. To fill this gap, the company created a special tuition assistance program targeted to help CVS Health pharmacy interns complete their education. 'Core to our business is making sure we have a good supply of pharmacists who can then help run the many facets of CVS Health and Caremark,' stated Tan.
Tan explained that CVS Health's PharmD tuition assistance program lets retail pharmacy interns take advantage of up to $20,000 per year for their last two years of pharmacy school. "We're the leaders in providing the next generation of pharmacists. It's been so successful that we actually have deans of pharmacy schools thanking us for introducing a program that removes barriers and allows for broader student benefit.'
CVS Health's innovative approach is paying off. Recall that only 2% of employees take advantage of the benefit. At CVS Health — that number is 4%, making their program twice as effective as the typical program. And a critical intangible? Happy employees like Cece, who are leading other employees to invest time in upskilling, while CVS Health supports their journey.
The Bottom Line
Tuition assistance programs, such as the CVS Health/EdAssist partnership, are an excellent way for companies to empower and upskill their workers. The program represents a win-win, both in terms of the partnership between the two companies and in terms of the benefits for CVS Health and its workers.
