TY  - JOUR
AU  - Flaherty, Colleen N
TI  - The Effect of Tuition Reimbursement on Turnover: A Case Study Analysis
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 12975
PY  - 2007
Y2  - March 2007
DO  - 10.3386/w12975
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w12975
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w12975.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Colleen Flaherty Manchester
Work and Organizations
University of Minnesota
Room 3-300R
321 - 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Tel: 612-625-9667
E-Mail: cmanch@umn.edu
M1  - published as Colleen Flaherty Manchester. "The Effect of Tuition Reimbursement on Turnover: A Case Study Analysis," in Stefan Bender, Julia Lane, Kathryn Shaw, Fredrik Andersson, and Till von Wachter, editors, "The Analysis of Firms and Employees: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches" University of Chicago Press (2008)

M3  - presented at "The Analysis of Firms and Employees", January 2, 2007
AB  - Tuition reimbursement programs provide financial assistance for direct costs of education and are a type of general skills training program commonly offered by employers in the United States. Standard human capital theory argues that investment in firm-specific skills reduces turnover, while investment in general skills training could result in increased turnover. However, firms cite increased retention as a motivation for offering tuition reimbursement programs. This rationale for offering these programs challenges the predictions of the standard human capital model. This paper tests empirically whether participation in tuition reimbursement programs increases employee retention using data from a non-profit institution. To document the prevalence of tuition reimbursement programs, the case study analysis is supplemented with findings from the Survey of Employer-Provided Training, 1995 (SEPT95). This paper finds that participation in tuition reimbursement programs reduces employee turnover.
ER  -