VOA慢速英语--沃尔玛为员工支付大学学费

Walmart Offers to Pay for Employees College Degree

The American company Walmart is offering something new to its employees: help with earning a college degree.

Walmart is the largest private employer in the United States.

In the past, the company has helped its workers finish high school or pass the General Equivalency¹ Development, or GED exam. The GED is designed to show one’s knowledge of high school-level skills.

Walmart hopes the chance to earn a college degree will help it find and keep higher quality entry-level employees in a competitive² labor³ market.

Walmart is partnering with a company called Guild⁴ Education to offer employees the chance to get a bachelor’s degree in business or supply-chain management.

The program will cost a dollar a day at one of three non-profit schools: the University of Florida, Brandman University and Bellevue University. The Associated Press says all three universities have had success working with adult learners and offer programs through the internet.

Walmart plans to expand its program to other degrees in the future. It will also offer college-preparation classes for workers who need extra help. The company is paying for the cost of classes, books and other school-related costs so students will not need to borrow money.

Walmart said its program is open to both full-time⁵ and part-time workers who have been with the company at least 90 days.

The company expects about 68,000 of its 1.4 million U.S. employees to sign up in the first five years, said Julie Murphy, executive⁶ vice⁷ president of people at Walmart.

This new partnership⁸ is an example of how large retail⁹ businesses and restaurants are under pressure to improve the skills of their entry-level workers. It comes at a time when the jobs of entry-level workers are getting more complex, partly because of the growing popularity¹⁰ of online sales. Two other reasons are competition from online retailer¹¹ Amazon and more demanding buyers.

Walmart already has a program to help workers and some of their family members earn a high school or GED degree. The company also trains managers at its Walmart Training Academy, and has a career program for entry-level workers.

Guild Education is a start-up company based in Denver, Colorado. The company has worked with other large businesses, including Chipotle Mexican Grill¹², Taco Bell and Lowe’s, on their employee education programs. But Rachel Carlson, a co-creator of Guild Education, says its partnership with Walmart is special in several ways, including its low costs.

Walmart’s new program is similar to one set up by Starbucks. Three years ago, Starbucks began offering four years of financial aid for an online college degree from Arizona State University.

I’m Phil Dierking.

Words in This Story

bachelor’s degree - n. a degree that is given to a student by a college or university usually after four years of study?

degree - n. an official document and title that is given to someone who has successfully completed a series of classes at a college or university?

equivalency - n. a level of achievement that is considered to be on the same level as finishing a course of study — often used before another noun?

executive - n. a person who manages or directs other people in a company or organization?

management - n. the act or skill of controlling and making decisions about a business, department, sports team, etc.?

online - adj. connected to a computer, a computer network, or the Internet?

retail - n. the business of selling things directly to customers for their own use

1 equivalency   

n. 等效性，均等，相当

参考例句：

• Stent-Versus-Stent Equivalency Trials: Are Some Stents More Equal Than Others? 支架与支架的相等同试验：是否有些支架的等同优于其他一些支架？
• First, some properties of equivalency of default theories are proposed. 首先，得到了若干关于缺省理论等价的性质。

2 competitive   

adj.竞争的，比赛的，好竞争的，有竞争力的

参考例句：

• Some kinds of business are competitive.有些商业是要竞争的。
• These businessmen are both competitive and honourable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 guild   

n.行会，同业公会，协会

参考例句：

• He used to be a member of the Writers' Guild of America.他曾是美国作家协会的一员。
• You had better incorporate the firm into your guild.你最好把这个公司并入你的行业协会。

5 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

6 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

9 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

10 popularity   

n.普及，流行，名望，受欢迎

参考例句：

• The story had an extensive popularity among American readers.这本小说在美国读者中赢得广泛的声望。
• Our product enjoys popularity throughout the world.我们的产品饮誉全球。

11 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

12 grill   

n.烤架，铁格子，烤肉；v.烧，烤，严加盘问

参考例句：

• Put it under the grill for a minute to brown the top.放在烤架下烤一分钟把上面烤成金黄色。
• I'll grill you some mutton.我来给你烤一些羊肉吃。