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Starting in February of this year, Point University pioneered a subscription program for Chick-fil-A operators across the country. Each operator can pay a fee to provide a Point University education for his or her employees. Operators in 36 states are participating in the program, with 248 restaurants participating and 427 students scheduled to enroll.

Tiffany Wood, vice president of strategic initiatives and partnerships at Point University, said employees get to take classes mostly for free under the model.

“We do ask the employees to apply for any grants for scholarships for which they might be eligible just because, you know, if they’re eligible for the HOPE scholarship in Georgia or something like that,” she said. “It’s money that would only go to tuition, anyway.”

Wood said the university asks that students in the program pay for their own books.

Operators pay participation fees on a tiered model based on their revenues and number of employees, Wood said.

Students in the program can only take classes online.

“That was intentional, primarily because they are working,” Wood said. “It’s really the best way for them to balance working and school.”

She said she believed Point University President Dean Collins deserved the most credit for the program.

“[It came from] a discussion we had with a group of operators over the course of a year, with them kind of giving us a lot of feedback,” she said. “… Just based on their feedback, and with our team kind of brainstorming, we really kind of landed here.”

Wood said the program expands Point University’s enrollment cycle, allowing restaurant employees to enroll during various months of the year.

“I would just say that It’s been really exciting to hear, to see the impact that this is having with the owner-operators because they’re able to support their local communities,” she said. “They’re really investing in their employees.”

Wood said Point University works with two local Chick-fil-A operators, Josh Sells and Rob Bowman in LaGrange.

Chick-fil-A operators can request more information on the program at https://point.edu/operators.

“We talked to some other restaurants, as well,” Wood said. “But at this point, this particular program is working with Chick-fil-A.”

Wood said Point University has other restaurant partnerships in which it offers scholarships to workers.