Robert Morris offers tuition breaks to 105,000 FedEx Ground workers

Robert Morris University is staking another claim in the increasingly competitive world of higher education, where government officials are encouraging colleges to tailor offerings to workforce needs.

Officials at the private university located in Moon inked an agreement to provide tuition discounts to some 105,000 eligible FedEx Ground employees in the U.S. and Canada.

The new agreement announced this week comes on top of customized “talent and leadership development programs” RMU crafted with the Port Authority of Allegheny County, Koppers, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Eat’n Park over the last three years.

The partnership with FedEx Ground provides tuition discounts for programs that lead to certificate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees. It covers employees who enroll at RMU and attend classes on campus or online. RMU also will provide matching funds to FedEx Ground tuition assistance dollars for employees in doctoral programs as well as assistance to employees seeking to earn a GED.

Such programs not only support workforce needs, they also provide a boost to colleges and universities competing to meet enrollment goals in a region with a shrinking pool of new high school graduates.

The school hopes to forge similar agreements with other businesses and groups, RMU President Chris Howard said.

“RMU aims to be a preferred strategic collaborator for corporations and other organizations in the Pittsburgh region and beyond,” Howard said. “We hope that more organizations will follow the lead of FedEx Ground in making this kind of investment in their employees and the communities they call home.”

State and federal officials have stressed the need for and encouraged the creation of education programs matched to workforce needs. Last year, Gov. Tom Wolf announced the creation of a grant program specifically aimed at creating such partnerships.