SDSU selected as education partner for Amazon’s Career Choice Program

South Dakota State University has been selected as an education partner for Amazon’s Career Choice program, providing Amazon’s hourly employees access to undergraduate degrees and certificates across a variety of programs with tuition assistance.

“SDSU is pleased to partner with the Amazon Career Choice Program, and we look forward to assisting students in attaining their educational and career goals,” said Victor Taylor, vice provost for graduate education and extended studies at SDSU.   

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 pre-paid 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. 

"This partnership improves access to a variety of educational opportunities for Amazon's employees enabling them to advance their careers, and it will also support growth of the state’s workforce,” said Dennis Hedge, SDSU provost and vice president for academic affairs.

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 SDSU 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 director 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 created 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 150,000 Amazon employees around the world have participated in Career Choice, and we’ve seen firsthand how it can transform their lives.”

Founded in 1881, South Dakota State University is the state’s Morrill Act land-grant institution as well as its largest, most comprehensive school of higher education. SDSU confers degrees from seven different colleges representing 232 majors, minors and specializations. The institution also offers 39 master’s degree programs, 16 Ph.D. and two professional programs.

Find more information on Amazon’s Career Choice.