San Diego will grant scholarships and university discounts to municipal workers
SAN DIEGO – As part of an ongoing effort to recruit and retain a skilled workforce, the City of San Diego is adding new educational opportunities for its employees to promote their professional growth and development.
The City of San Diego has approved agreements with National University, San Diego College of Continuing Education, University of California San Diego Division of Extended Studies and University of California San Diego Rady School of Management to become official partners of the City of San Diego’s Employee Education Program.
These partnerships will provide city employees with free and discounted tuition and educational scholarships during the 5-year term of the contract.
The announcement is in direct response to feedback provided to the City during its 2024 Employee Satisfaction Survey, in which 48% of respondents stated they were interested in pursuing professional certification or a degree.
These partnerships are also part of the Economic Development Strategy approved by Council in the summer of 2023. By offering these opportunities to employees, the City continues to provide a culture of learning to its more than 12,000 employees while providing avenues for career advancement.
“We are fortunate to be able to offer these new educational partnerships to the City’s workforce through our Corporate Partnership Program,” said Christina Bibler, Director of the Economic Development Department.
City employees will be able to receive tuition discounts, various educational and development opportunities and scholarships through these partnerships. In return, program partners will have the opportunity to familiarize City employees with their educational programs and services through promotional offers, participation in on-site events, exclusive informational opportunities and other marketing and promotional opportunities.
National University will continue its 10-year partnership in which employees have the opportunity to receive a 25% discount on associate and bachelor’s degree tuition and a 15% discount on doctoral programs, and will be joined by three new educational partners. These include free tuition for the San Diego College of Continuing Education; a 10-15% discount is offered for UC San Diego-Extension programs; and five annual scholarships will be awarded to UC San Diego’s Rady School of Management.
In addition, scholarships to National University and UC San Diego-Extension programs will be awarded each year upon request.
The partnerships are free of charge to the City of San Diego and employees will be able to take advantage of new educational opportunities immediately.
