June 30, 2015
By Tom Canty, Vice President and General Manager, Empire BlueCross BlueShield Government, Labor and 
Special Account
Empire BlueCross has announced a new partnership to make an associate’s or bachelor’s degree available at no cost for any of its eligible full-time and part-time associates in New York through College for America at Southern New Hampshire University. College for America partners with employers to offer a competency-based, online curriculum that is engineered to help associates fit a fully-accredited college degree in the busy lives of working adults.
This new benefit is available to any Empire full-time or part-time employee who works 20 or more hours per week and has been employed at least six months. Empire associates who participate in the College for America program can earn their degree at no cost as a result of the company’s tuition reimbursement benefit.
Empire is committed to offering its associates a robust benefits package that goes beyond salary and health benefits. This partnership with College for America has proven successful for our parent company associates who participated in the pilot program in New Hampshire and we want to build on that success by providing opportunities for education, development and career advancement to all our associates. As an employer, Empire is building talent and the skills needed for promotion in its workforce while associates earn an accredited degree that will help them get ahead in their life and career without taking on debt.
We believe that SNHU’s partnership with Empire will educate thousands of associates and is a model for aligning employer demand with the kind of competency-based, workforce-applicable higher education that has been pioneered at College for America.
