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RetailPizza Hut

Pizza Hut Wants to Help Its Employees Go to College

By
Benjamin Snyder
Benjamin Snyder
Managing Editor
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December 16, 2015, 11:19 AM ET
Taco Bell And Pizza Hut Restaurants Ahead Of Yum! Brands Earnings Figures
A pepperoni pizza from a Pizza Hut restaurant, a unit of Yum! Brands Inc., is arranged for a photograph in Torrance, California, U.S., on Monday, Oct. 7, 2013. Yum! Brands Inc. is scheduled to release earnings data on Oct. 8. Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesPhotograph by Patrick T. Fallon — Bloomberg via Getty Images

Yum! Brands’ (YUM) Pizza Hut is the latest company to announce a plan to help employees pay for college.

Yum said Wednesday that it’s extending its partnership with Excelsior College to assist workers and their families pay tuition, The Street reported.

Called “The Life Unboxed EDU,” the program gives Pizza Hut employees a 45% discount on undergraduate tuition at the online university. The program also offers a 15% discount to graduate students. There are currently 65 employees in a pilot of the new perk.

The discount includes $5,250 for tuition, books, and other costs for full-time employees, according to The Street.

The plan for Pizza Hut workers follows a similar program already in place for Yum’s Taco Bell employees. The Street reported there’s no word on whether KFC employees will get similar benefits.

“We know this will certainly not hurt us in the retention space, but it’s not the reason that we did it—it’s about helping people to become their best, make friends and have fun,” chief people officer of Pizza Hut U.S. Amy Messersmith said in an interview with The Street.

The move comes months after Starbucks (SBUX) announced a similar plan to give employees full tuition at Arizona State University through its online program, which has cut into profit.

Fortune has reached out to Yum! Brands for comment.

About the Author
By Benjamin SnyderManaging Editor
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Benjamin Snyder is Fortune's managing editor, leading operations for the newsroom.

Prior to rejoining Fortune, he was a managing editor at Business Insider and has worked as an editor for Bloomberg, LinkedIn and CNBC, covering leadership stories, sports business, careers and business news. He started his career as a breaking news reporter at Fortune in 2014.

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