Goodwill industries international inc is a nonprofit organization in the United States. It helps people in many ways like job placement and training other services that support the people with disabilities who wish to be independent. Let us know more detail about ‘Does GoodWill Pay For College?’.
Does GoodWill Pay For College?
Goodwill industries pay tuition fees for their workers, who are eligible to get this offer. Along with paying college fees for its employees, goodwill industries also provide numerous other plans, including insurance for life, dental vision, retirement plans, medical plans, career services, discounts, and assistance programs to help the workers.
History of Goodwill: Does GoodWill Pay For College?
Goodwill Industries was established in the 19th century, approximately in 1919, in Boston. It was the idea of Rev. Edgar J.Helms. His idea was simple, to reduce poverty by increasing the skills among people. This idea gave the poor people the opportunity to work and earn. During the early time, there were no government programs to help the less fortunate. So Rev. Edger T.Helms decided to help them.
He went door to door and collected used goods like shoes, furniture, bags, or anything that the people would like to give. The poor people were taught to restore the collected things and sell them. After the restoration, the goods were sold and the income was given to the workers who restored them. Through this method, the people learned new skills and learned to become independent and had income. As time went by the Goodwill industries expanded throughout the United States.
The goodwill industries in metropolitan Chicago and southeast Wisconsin are the largest goodwill organizations in the world.
Goodwill has a separate donation policy that specifies the rules of donation in Goodwill. According to their policy goodwill accepts only goods that can be resold. They don’t accept large goods like fridges, washing machines, exercise types of equipment, etc, and furniture with damage and other hazardous materials.
Education assistance program from Goodwill
Goodwill pays for college for eligible employees. Nearly 85% of all the education-related costs like textbooks are covered in this program. Up to a maximum of $2000 – $3,500 is provided annually.
To be eligible, the employee must be a full-time employee and should have worked for 6 months in the Goodwill industry. If they qualify, then the GoodWill industry will pay for not only classes But also seminars, workshops, courses, etc according to the employee’s wish, if they think that these classes will help them grow in this organization. The additional fees like textbooks and tuition fees will also be covered by the organization.
The fee assistance does not apply to the courses, classes, workshops, etc of the employee, attended at the request of their supervisor to improve the performance. It includes all educational opportunities.
The tuition assistance pays a maximum of $2000/per academic year including the tuition, regular classes, and textbooks. Other fees that are not directly connected to the education, like the parking pass and stationery are not covered by this program.
Before registering for the classes that need to be paid by the tuition assistance, the employee must get the approval of the proper staff from their department. Then the request is sent to the vice-president of the employee’s department and after his/her approval the request for tuition assistance is sent to the Human resource department. till the classes are finished.
Once the classes are complete, the employee must send the following details to the HR department before payment processing
- Original receipt of the fees, which the employee previously paid.
- Final report or completion certificate(original or copy)
Other programs and services for Goodwill employees.
- Surveys are conducted by the organization to ensure the salary provided is acceptable and equal to the market standards.
- ELF or employee life fund is to help the workers in their time of financial need.
- A separate consulting service is provided to the workers and their families. This program is called the employee assistance program.
- Goodwill employees get a 20% discount for products bought through the goodwill store and donation center.
- Vision insurance
- Dental insurance
- Medical and prescription drug coverage
- Retirement plans are given for goodwill workers. To be eligible they must have worked 1 year and 1000+ hours.
- Life insurance is provided by the company and pays a 100% premium.
- Life insurance can be purchased for the employee and his family.
- Goodwill also provides paid time off features for its workers. This time can be used to take sick leave or vacations, or personal days based on the employee’s needs.
- Long-term and short-term disability where the company pays 100% premium.
- To develop its staff, the company provides e-learning and in-person training for its workers.
- The Goodlife wellness program aims to provide awareness and education on health and well-being.
Other movements and operations
Donate movement
It was launched in 2010 by Goodwill to raise awareness about donating goods and how it can help people and the planet. It explains recycling through donation and helping others.
21-st century initiative
To mark its 100th anniversary, the goodwill organization launched the 21st-century initiative to integrate 20 million people into the workplace. It focuses on getting people into good jobs. This initiative primarily makes the people independent and employed.
Women veteran initiative
Goodwill helped 100000 people with job and placement services by hiring nearly 1800 veterans and military family members. Goodwill also launched another initiative with the aim of engaging 3000 women veterans in the next two years and supporting them to be self-sufficient
Good prospects
It is an online program where anyone can get advice and clarify doubts about their respective fields, from experienced people.
Conclusion
Now we’ve learnt about ‘Does GoodWill Pay For College?’, The nonprofit organization, Goodwill industry helps its employees to pay for their education, covering nearly 85% of their educational charges for their development. To get the fee assistance, the employees must fulfill the required conditions.
Frequently Asked questions
- What grades should the employee get to get their application approved?
To be eligible to get the fee assistance, the final grade must be C or better.
- Who gives the check to the employees?
The payment or the check is distributed by the Accounts Payable Department.
