Metropolitan College

ISSUE AREA: JOBS

City: Louisville, KY
Workforce Development - Education - Urban

Contact:
George Poling
Executive Director
Metropolitan College
200 West Broadway, Suite 800
Louisville, KY 40202
(502) 213-4524
george.poling@kctcs.edu

Date Published: October 2006

Metropolitan College was designed to support United Parcel Service (UPS) and their need for labor in their Louisville based distribution center. In order to prevent UPS from leaving Louisville and to satisfy their demand for trained workers, the City of Louisville created the Metropolitan College. This public-private partnership was created in conjunction with UPS, the University of Louisville, Jefferson Community College and Jefferson Technical College. In exchange for working 15-20 hours a week during the late shift (9pm to 4 am), UPS pays full college tuition for any employee attending one of the three participating institutions. Students can attend any of the three participating colleges and pursue a two or four year degree in one of 23 programs. Evening classes are available and a ‘special hours’ dorm has been created to accommodate the student’s unconventional working schedules.

Anyone interested in attending one of the three colleges may do so with large financial subsidies, including free tuition for in state students, book allowance, a housing stipend, and a signing bonus of $2900. Out of state students take advantage of similar benefits, but must pay the difference between in and out of state tuition. Also available to both in and out of state students is a student loan program, where UPS pays all or part of the loan depending on the length of time a student works at UPS. Students get paid an hourly wage of $8.50/hour and employees receive annual wage increases, health benefits, paid vacation and holidays, 401K savings plans, and stock ownership.

Costs to run the program are split amongst the partner organizations and the City of Louisville, Jefferson County and the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The success of the program is already being felt. Prior to the creation of Metropolitan College, UPS Next Day Air Operation experienced nearly 100% turnover with midnight shift jobs. Now, the worker retention rate is over 90%. From the time it was implemented in 1998, there were more than 700 Kentucky residents enrolled. Today, there are 2,200 students enrolled, with 400 of those coming from outside the Louisville region and 100 from outside Kentucky. Metropolitan College hoped to reach the goal of 2,200 students within 8 years of the program’s inception but reached that number in only 3 years. In addition, the percentage of college students working at the UPS Next Day Air Operation Center has jumped from 8% to over 60 %.

The beauty of the program is that it solves both the shortage of labor for UPS and gives all citizens the chance to participate in higher education. Local hospitals have also joined the program as Louisville’s Norton Hospital has asked Metropolitan College to recruit for them. After one year of work at UPS, students with successful academic and work performance are eligible to work at Norton. Norton reimburses Metropolitan College for the student’s first year educational costs in exchange for the recruiting service. Four other local hospitals are expected to join the program in the near future. Not only does Metropolitan College provide educational opportunities for those who otherwise would not have access to a college education, but also helps Louisville meet its labor demand.

In 2006, the Metropolitan College Student Development Team was honored by the National Council on Student Development with the "Shared Journey Exemplary Practice Award." This program was designed by Metropolitan college to aid students in their transition to college and into the workplace. The Development Team received this award for the innovative practices they brought to the issue of student development and transition.

Resources:

www.metro-college.com