CSEA Member Goes Back to School with Union Plus
California School Employees Association (CSEA) member Matthew Colwell hopes to get a management level job. He plans to do so by equipping himself with more education through the Union Plus Free College program. The program will allow Matthew to earn a Business Management associate degree online with no out-of-pocket costs.
Matthew Colwell of Escondido, California, is a goal-setter.
Colwell has been a member of the California School Employees Association (CSEA) Chapter 241 in San Dieguito, California for over 19 years and is a network technician. He feels that his lack of college degree has held him back from professional advancement opportunities in the past.
“Getting a management level job is something I’ve had as a goal for a number of years and I just haven’t been able to promote into those opportunities,” he laments.
So just weeks after Colwell saw a Union Plus email about its Free College program, he started taking classes towards a Business Management associate degree.
Colwell says, “With this education, my hope is that I can better equip myself to get one of those jobs when they become available.”
The Union Plus Free College Program partners with AFSCME and Eastern Gateway Community College to offer online courses and degree programs with no out of pocket cost to active or retired union members and their eligible family members.
Colwell notes, “One of the reasons I haven’t gone back to college until now is just the cost associated with it.”
He also emphasizes the convenience of taking online courses and admits, “If I had to go sit in a classroom and do traditional college-type coursework, I don’t know that I could do it.”
Colwell encourages his fellow CSEA members to use the program as well.
“The Union Plus Free College Program is a huge benefit – not only the fact that members are entitled to this benefit, but also their spouses and children,” Colwell concludes. “This will give the nudge to new hires who are thinking about joining CSEA.”
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