News

AFSCME Free College, which offers a free associate degree program for AFSCME members and their families, recently made its bachelor’s degree completion program a permanent benefit.

Family of AFSCME members eligible to participate in this great member benefit includes children (or step children), grandchildren (or step grandchildren), spouses, domestic partners, financial dependent siblings and parents.

Just like the free associate degree program through AFSCME Free College, the bachelor’s degree program is conducted exclusively online, making it tailor-made for those who work full time. The upcoming start date for the 2020-2021 academic year for the bachelor's degree and associates degree programs is March 2021.

Central State University (CSU) in Ohio is now offering five degree completion options in partnership with AFSCME: business administration, early childhood education, education intervention specialist, criminal justice and interdisciplinary studies/humanities (for people who have earned previous college credit in a variety of subject areas).

In order to begin the bachelor’s degree program at CSU, students need to have earned an associate degree or 60 credits with a 2.2 GPA. Almost 1,400 people have taken advantage of this free, flexible opportunity through the bachelor’s degree completion program.

For AFSCME members and their families who have not yet earned an associate degree or do not have 60 credits in hand, AFSCME’s Free College through Eastern Gateway Community College (EGCC) is a great pathway to earn your free bachelor’s degree. You may begin your studies at EGCC then transfer to CSU.

More than 20,000 people have taken advantage of the associate degree option, pursuing education in areas ranging from social work to accounting to criminal justice and more.

Students who pursue EGCC’s business management degree program may now earn a specialized certificate in a wide variety of disciplines, like finance, hospitality, cyber security, health care management and more. Certificates are awarded after successful completion of four specialized courses in the subject area. This helps students to demonstrate transferable skills and knowledge of an in-demand area of study to current and future employers.

For more information, go to bachelorsdegree.afscme.org and freecollege.afscme.org.