2U, Inc. and Guild Education Partner to Expand Online Higher Education Opportunities for America’s Workforce
Today, 2U, Inc., a global leader in education technology, announced a partnership with Guild Education, a certified B-corp with a mission to unlock opportunity for America’s workforce through education and upskilling, to make 2U-powered online offerings from the world’s great non-profit colleges and universities available to some of America’s leading companies. Employees of Guild’s employer partners will have access to a wide range of online short courses, boot camps, and degrees in career-relevant disciplines and subjects from across 2U’s portfolio.
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“As companies strive to keep pace with rapid transformations in the economy, investing in the ongoing education and skills development of their workforce has become a critical part of ensuring future competitiveness,” said Christopher “Chip” Paucek, 2U Co-Founder and CEO. “Our new partnership will enable Guild’s growing network of employer partners to access world-class online degree and non-degree programs powered by 2U and unlock transformative educational opportunities for millions of workers across the nation.”
Guild’s innovative technology platform and tuition benefits model gives more than three million American workers access to affordable pathways to education through Fortune 1000 employers like Walmart, Chipotle, Lowe’s, The Walt Disney Company, and Discover Financial Services. With access to 2U’s portfolio, Guild can now offer its employer partners a broader range of online higher education programs to serve a wide range of learners.
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In addition to online degree programs, the partnership with 2U will allow Guild’s employer partners to offer their employees access to non-degree programs, such as boot camps and short courses, in career-relevant topics such as DEI Leadership, Sustainability, Data Analytics, and Digital Marketing. These flexible, high-quality, non-degree programs have become even more important in the COVID era as demand for alternative credentials continues to rise, and more Americans look to shorter-term training opportunities as effective stepping stones for career advancement.
“Guild is focused on helping America’s workforce access an affordable education, in partnerships with employers. The average college student takes on $29,000 in debt. Guild is proud to help its students avoid that debt, which is even more important considering our student demographics—54 percent of whom are people of color and 56 percent of whom are women—across all 50 states,” said Rachel Carlson, CEO of Guild Education. “As 2U helps top-notch colleges and universities come online, Guild is grateful to play an important role creating access to those schools for American workers across the US. This partnership will support our mission to drive down the cost of higher education, and importantly, help workers advance their education and career.”
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