While there are a number of companies that offer employees college tuition assistance, at Hormel Foods this offer is being extended to the employees' children.
On August 27 the company said that the program. Inspired Pathways, is a way to "help create equality in education." Beginning in the fall of 2021, it will offer two years’ worth of college free.
The company isn’t just investing money into the program, said Jim Sheehan, executive vice president and CFO of Hormel Foods, they’re making a large effort to make sure people know about it, encouraging supervisors to reach out to their employees about it and help guide them through the process if they’re interested.
There are no restrictions on the program in terms of GPA requirements or test scores. Sheehan said the program is a way to help create equality in education, by helping those who may not have experience with the college process.
“A lot of these children will be first-generation college students — we’re excited about that,” he said. “(We asked ourselves) how can we help those people who may not have the full opportunities others do? It’s through helping them educate their children. Let’s give them a step up.”
The Hormel Foundation has had a similar program in the past couple of years. That program allows students from Austin to attend Riverland Community College free of charge. The new Inspired Pathways program says it “follows the highly successful Hormel Foundation Austin Assurance Scholarship which benefits all high school students who live in Austin, Minnesota.”
Austin Public Schools Superintendent David Kranz said the foundation’s program has been instrumental in getting students into college who might not have gone otherwise.
“We know that for a fact,” he said.
