Employee-Controlled Accounts Aid Education in Many Fields - NYTimes.com

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By ELIZABETH OLSON

About 50 companies nationwide offer employee-controlled education accounts. Some are large health providers like BJC Healthcare of St. Louis. Others, like the United Technologies Corporation of Hartford, also pay for education, but offer a different model. The company has an “employee scholar” program, begun in 1996, which pays colleges for its employees enrolled in degree programs.

The employee chooses the courses, but the program is not portable, a feature advocated by the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, a Chicago nonprofit. It is urging nationwide adoption of portable Lifelong Learning Accounts. These are controlled by employees, with their costs partly matched by employers, and the money in the accounts earns interest.

The council is teaming with companies and foundations for three-year pilot programs across the country, the council spokeswoman, Amy Sherman, said. The companies include Sinai Health Systems in Chicago, whose program is backed by Illinois economic development funds, and City College of San Francisco, whose program is being financed by Atlantic Philanthropies and is aimed at older workers who want to retool themselves for second careers.

“These accounts are a great fit for mature workers who want to broaden their skills or use this as a career changer,” Ms. Sherman said.
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