BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Penn Foster, a leader in career-focused online and hybrid education designed to address the skills gap in America, today announced a partnership with Purchasing Power’s education service, Learning Solutions, which enables employers to provide responsible, pay-as-you-go educational opportunities to employees and gives students the opportunity to graduate debt-free while advancing their careers. Among the broad spectrum of companies that are already providing this benefit to employees through the partnership are Advance Auto Parts, Quicken Loans and SEBCO (State Employees Benefit Corporation).
“Penn Foster has always been dedicated to providing individuals and their employers with the educational options necessary for a skilled workforce,” said Frank Britt, CEO of Penn Foster. “As student loan debt continues to rise, we are committed to presenting students with a less expensive, easier to manage education that fits easily into their lives, allowing them to work while advancing their skills through self-directed programs. We are proud to be affiliated with Purchasing Power’s Learning Solutions, as its mission is so closely related to our own.”
Through Learning Solutions, employees can conveniently pay for Penn Foster courses during 12 months of equal installments via their company’s payroll deduction program. By doing so, individuals can advance their careers without building debt and joining 94 percent of the nation’s students in taking out loans for their education. The ability to graduate debt-free is especially important as the student loan debt crisis continues to escalate, with student loan debt exceeding $1 trillion. Despite the large amount of money going into postsecondary education, 49 percent of U.S. employers are still struggling to fill crucial positions, according to the 2012 Talent Shortage Survey by the ManpowerGroup. Learning Solutions helps to solve this problem by equipping companies with a highly educated workforce, allowing them to promote from within.
“We understand that our team members are often juggling multiple commitments at work and at home,” said Stephanie Stevenson, Associate Vice President, Compensation & Benefits with Quicken Loans. “By offering our team access to Penn Foster courses through Learning Solutions, we can help advance their education in a convenient way, providing both convenience and access to world-class training.”
Learning Solutions is available to employers as a no-cost voluntary benefit and can be used to increase or improve skill-sets, decrease financial burdens and provide programs that work into employees’ busy work-life schedules. Among the top-10 Penn Foster programs chosen by companies using Learning Solutions are the Medical Coding and Billing Career Diploma, the Auto Repair Technician Career Diploma, the Business Management Bachelor’s Degree and the Web Page Designer Career Diploma.
About Penn Foster
Founded in 1890, Penn Foster has been a leader in career-focused distance and hybrid learning for more than 100 years through its high school, career school and college. Through direct enrollment by students as well as partnerships with schools and businesses, more than 13 million people have taken Penn Foster-enabled courses to further their education debt-free and better position them for life success. Today, Penn Foster graduates 25,000 students yearly and enrolls more than 100,000 new students each year in programs designed to address the gap in middle skilled careers. Penn Foster combines affordable career-ready education with a flexible delivery model ranging from pure play online to onsite hybrid learning solutions – all of which are made possible by a cloud-based technology system that makes content available anytime and anywhere and connects students to their peers and instructors. For more information, visit www.pennfoster.edu.
About Purchasing Power, LLC
Headquartered in Atlanta, GA, Purchasing Power is one of the fastest-growing specialty e-retailers in the market offering a leading voluntary benefit program. Purchasing Power differentiates itself from traditional e-commerce retailers through its unique payment plan value proposition, strategic benefit broker partnerships, internal marketing expertise and superior customer service. Purchasing Power is a Rockbridge Growth Equity, LLC Company. Over 6 million people have access to Purchasing Power, and since it was founded in 2001 the company has fulfilled nearly $1 billion in customer orders from employees and members of leading companies and organizations, including Fortune 500 and government agencies. For more information, visit PurchasingPower.com/employers.
