NASHVILLE—(WIRE)— Volunteer State Community College announced they have been selected as an education partner for Amazon’s Career Choice program, providing Amazon’s hourly employees access to two-year degrees, certificates, and paths to university transfer with campuses in Gallatin, Springfield, Cookeville, and Livingston, and through online education.

“We’re glad to have Amazon employees as students at Vol State,” said Vol State president, Orinthia Monatgue. “The Career Choice program is a great opportunity for Amazon employees to earn an associate’s degree in the career areas we offer or begin their path towards a four-year degree. Our Admissions Office advisors look forward to working with Amazon employees one-on-one to get them started.”

Popularly known as Vol State, the college has six major divisions: Health Sciences, Nursing, Humanities, Business and Technology, Social Science and Education, and Math and Science. Popular programs at the school include Radiologic Technology, Physical Therapist Assistant, Criminal Justice, Education, Pre-Nursing, and Communications. The college has a television studio, a radio station, and recording studios. It offers an Entertainment Media Production program and classes in recording, video production, digital radio web design, and music business. Many students choose the university prep program General Studies which prepares them for transfer to four-year colleges and universities.

Amazon’s Career Choice program is an education benefit that empowers employees to learn new skills for career success at Amazon or elsewhere. The program meets individual learners where they are on their education journey through a variety of education and upskilling opportunities including full college tuition, industry certifications designed to lead to in-demand jobs, and foundational skills such as English language proficiency, high school diplomas, and GEDs. In the U.S., the company is investing $1.2 billion to upskill more than 300,000 employees by 2025 to help move them into higher-paying, in-demand jobs.

Amazon’s Career Choice program has a rigorous selection process for third-party partner educators, choosing partners that are focused on helping employees through their education programs, assisting them with job placements, and overall offering education that leads to career success.

“We’re looking forward to Vol State coming on board as an education partner for Career Choice, adding to the hundreds of best-in-class offerings available to our employees,” said Tammy Thieman, Global Program Lead of Amazon’s Career Choice program. “We’re committed to empowering our employees by providing them access to the education and training they need to grow their careers, whether that’s with us or elsewhere. We have intentionally cultivated a partner network of third-party educators and employers committed to providing excellent education, job placement resources, and continuous improvements to the experience. Today, over 50,000 Amazon employees around the world have already participated in Career Choice and we’ve seen first-hand how it can transform their lives.”

For more information on Amazon’s Career Choice, visit: https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/workplace/career-choice

For more information on Volunteer State Community College, visit: www.volstate.edu