Last week, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) added six colleges and universities to the Federal Academic Alliance, a program that offers reduced tuition to federal employees. This recent addition hiked the total number of participating schools to 23. 

The Federal Academic Alliance (FAA) offers discounted tuition to federal workers interested in post-secondary education. This is part of a program intent at bridging critical skills gaps that exist in the federal workforce. The six new schools added to the FAA include Michigan State University’s College of Business, American University’s Key Executive Leadership Master’s Degree in Public Administration, Bellevue University, the University of Louisville, Columbia College, and Georgetown University’s Biomedical Graduate Education. 

“The Federal Academic Alliance provides federal employees and their families improved access to obtaining bachelor and master’s degrees,” said acting OPM Director Kathleen McGettigan, in a statement. “We will continue to work with colleges and universities to provide the federal workforce with opportunities to obtain the education they need to meet today’s federal workplace challenges, address critical skills gaps in mission critical occupations, increase federal employees’ access to high-quality, affordable educational resources, and further develop and retain the federal workforce.” 

In a memo to chief human capital officers, McGettigan detailed the offers available to federal workers at each of the new schools joining the program: 

-Michigan State will offer 10% reduced tuition for certain graduate programs and 15% off some certificate programs to federal workers, spouses and dependents. 

-American University will offer 25% tuition reduction and waive application fees to federal workers. 

-Bellevue will offer a 20% tuition discount and waive application fees for feds, their spouses and dependents.  

            -Columbia College provides a 15% tuition discount with no fees and with books included for federal employees, spouses and dependents under 25. 

-Georgetown University will provide a 15% tuition “scholarship” to federal workers.  

-Louisville will offer a 10% discount on tuition for online programs with reduced application fees for feds. 

Please see the official statement for contact information and more details for each school.