It’s a reality many Americans know well: College is expensive. Nearly 43 million Americans currently hold more than $1.75 trillion in student loan debt—with an average balance of more than $40,000, according to the World Economic Forum.

Spectrum—the country’s largest provider of rural internet services, operating under Charter Communications—which employs 95,000, sought to enable employees to access higher education with a tuition benefit program. However, participation was lacking, in part because employees had to pay costs upfront, says Paul Marchand, executive vice president and chief HR officer.

Two years ago, Spectrum partnered with Guild to retool its tuition benefit, pivoting to an offering that doesn’t require employees to invest any of their own money. And participation skyrocketed, he says.

“It nearly crashed our website,” Marchand says about the announcement. By transforming the benefit from a tuition reimbursement program to a tuition assistance program, Spectrum has seen more employees take advantage, internal promotions rise and retention jump.

The challenges of traditional tuition benefits

With employees spread across 41 states, Spectrum leadership operates a robust employee listening strategy—including surveys, town halls, field visits, ride-alongs and more. A few years ago, a common refrain arose in those efforts: Employees were craving more educational opportunities but lacked financial support.

At the time, Spectrum’s tuition benefit required employees to pay all expenses upfront—from registration fees and book costs to tuition. After a semester finished, they submitted their grades and would then be reimbursed; all said, employees sometimes waited six or seven months from registration to reimbursement.

“That’s a long period of time for somebody who’s maybe making $27 an hour to wait for what could be $4,000 or $5,000,” Marchand says.

That likely influenced lagging participation: Utilization of the benefit was low, and largely came from white-collar workers pursuing advanced degrees—not the frontliners who could most benefit from financial assistance with certificates, associate or bachelor’s programs, Marchand says.

This population was also challenged by the predominantly in-person requirement of the previous program. Blue-collar workers are more likely than higher-paid counterparts, Marchand notes, to be single parents, work more than one job, and care for kids and aging parents simultaneously.

“They can’t just run to a local college to take a class and sit in an auditorium for three hours,” he says. “They don’t have the discretionary time, and they don’t have the discretionary money.”

Tuition assistance: A more modern approach to support

Leadership scoured the marketplace to find providers approaching tuition support in a “disruptive way.”

“We stumbled upon Guild, and it was a match made in heaven,” Marchand says.

The revamped offering gives full-time workers access to more than 300 certificate and degree programs from 30 educational institutions—predominantly delivered through online learning—along with assistance from a Guild counselor to develop a personalized development program. Importantly, all educational costs are covered by Spectrum.

“There is no burden passed on to the worker to get reimbursed,” Marchand says. “We pay for it, we trust they’re going to take the class and do well and continue their growth plan.”

A leading-edge benefit

Spectrum disseminated information about the new tuition benefit on its employee website, through video campaigns and information sessions.

“Suddenly,” Marchand says, “thousands of people were registering to learn more and then signing up.”

In the two years since launch, more than 13,000 employees have participated in or completed an education program—a rate that is 8.5 times that of the legacy offering. The demographics of students have also shifted, with 68% of participants now in frontline, customer-facing roles.

The benefits to both workers and the business are already being realized, Marchand says: Employees who are enrolled in the program receive promotions at a rate 24% higher than non-participants and have a 10% higher retention rate.

“This has been one of the more transformative benefits we have offered, and we have gotten great feedback,” Marchand says. “It has been a success greater than we ever thought it was going to be.”

Learn more about Spectrum’s talent strategy at HR Tech in Las Vegas this September. Jennifer Tracy, vice president of talent attraction and acquisition at Spectrum, will discuss the state of TA tech with Aptitude Research Partners’ Madeline Laurano and Rob Daugherty, global head of TA at Walmart. Click here to register.