It looks like Chipotle started at $5,250 a year and is now upping the deal to full tuition. That tells me that this program is working, which is wonderful for the students and for Chipotle. No company ever stands so tall as those that bend over to help others. Nice going Chipotle!

Chipotle stands out as a beacon of what a company could do to groom the next generation of its leadership team. It’s such a rarity to see companies the size of Chipotle incentivize their young employees, and help to relieve the significant burden of what college tuition is these days. Most young professionals are entering the workforce with an overwhelming amount of college loan debts that they will have to pay off for years, if not decades.

Kudos go out to the Chipotle organization, as this will only lead to a motivated growing workforce and employee retention. I only wish these sorts of programs were available for us Gen X folks back in the ’90s when we worked part-time during college.

Providing meaningful benefits — and nothing is as meaningful as an education — is critical not just in attracting workers, but attracting the kinds of employees that sustain and grow businesses. Individuals coming to Chipotle because of the free college offer are looking for more out of life than a paycheck and that translates into a desire to make sure they keep their jobs and stay personally motivated. By linking the employees’ futures to their own Chipotle has taken a giant step forward that ought to pay dividends for years to come.

It’s a cosmetic and affordable public relations program for consumers to feel good about the brand.

If Chipotle wants to retain and help the majority of its employees it should simply increase wages. Consumers know that most QSR employees are adults needing to make ends meet, the idea of the student working part-time to cover costs is, unfortunately, not our current reality.

I applaud Chipotle for the program and I encourage them to increase the funding of its program. But if they are after employee retention and building goodwill from consumers, then increase wages. Consumers and employees will reward them for it.

This is a great program. For far too long, many employees did not regard retail as a true position, just something they did while looking for a real job. This provides Chipotle’s employees a path to management whether they stay with the company or someday leave to work elsewhere. For the company it provides a pool of people with the skill sets they will need for the future.

This is a great move in the right direction. It can become a great retention tool for employees who have a need and a want to grow. It will not replace great management but it will get employees who may not be totally happy with the job to stay for the benefit.

One suggestion I would make to management if they are taking the time to look at these comments is, don’t limit the tuition reimbursement to business degrees. Make it available to any degree a person wants to pursue. A lot of great employees don’t have or want business degrees. But they are still great employees and many of them would make great managers.

As a University Professor & former University College dean, I applaud the efforts of Chipotle to help its employees earn their college degrees. We have all heard the stories about college tuition debt. However, this program appears to support students who did not choose for economic or other reasons, to continue their education on a part time basis. This group is balancing work, family & school. Chipotle minimizes the financial burden.

I perceive this as a significant differential advantage.

This is a great move by Chipotle to retain and recruit employees, not to mention creating their future corporate leaders. This is a meaningful benefit and Chipotle should be applauded for it. Now, if they raised wages it would be an even bigger win, but this is a step in the right direction!