Starting in the fall, Starbucks is offering free tuition for baristas who work 20 hours a week and enroll in Arizona State University’s online courses in their junior and senior years. Freshmen and sophomores are eligible for $6,500 on average in scholarships at a school where tuition runs between $480 to $543 per credit hour. It’s a no-strings-attached program could make a massive difference in the lives of 135,000 Starbucks workers. Starbucks and ASU are framing the program as part of larger mission to save the American middle class. In a released statement,CEO Howard Schultz states that “the inequality within the country has created a situation where many Americans are being left behind.” This is a joint effort by these two establishments to firm up the middle class.
