An Underutilized Employee Benefit – Tuition Reimbursement

November 08, 2010

Over the weekend, like many people, I ran errands, saw dear friends, went to Mass, and watched football.  What I didn’t do was study and I really needed to because I postponed my next exam for my CEBS (Certified Employee Benefits Specialist) designation for next quarter.  So I better get cracking.

This advanced degree is offered to me by my employer as a benefit – tuition reimbursement.  The company benefits, of course, by having educated employees with the designations to prove it, but I also benefit in three ways:  I am fulfilling my continuing education for my Certified Financial Planner™ designation (which is needed anyway), I am forced to study more deeply in my field, and ultimately, it gives me additional professional designations.

I have noticed over my career how little this benefit is actually used.  Years ago, I worked as a financial consultant in a bank brokerage firm that offered reimbursement for the CFP® designation.  At the time, there were 3 CFP® practitioners out of maybe 60 financial consultants in Northern California.  During my 7 or so year tenure there, guess how many took advantage of this program?  ZERO.  None.

Having an advanced degree or professional designation can make a tremendous difference in a career and subsequently in earning power.  With a company reimbursing the tuition and the amount for books (or even half the amount for both) the benefit is well worth it.  It has been for me, so I guess I better start reading more and writing less.  For that reason, we’ll keep this blog a short one.  Got to go.  Got to study.