Chipotle is offering employees the chance to earn a business degree

Chipotle
Flickr | JeepersMedia

If you need a little extra push to earn your bachelor’s degree, we may have found the job for you.

Chipotle has just announced its newest education initiative, and it’s a good one: The fast-casual giant will help any of its employees earn a business degree in as little as 18 months—and help pay for it, too.

Chipotle and Bellevue University have joined forces to offer Chipotle employees a path to a bachelor’s degree. Each employee who pursues the degree will have options specially tailored to their needs, and prior credits as well as on-the-job training will go towards the degree.

Bellevue is teaming up with Chipotle to develop a curriculum that combines academic basics with real lessons from the industry, including employee training that comes from the restaurant’s internal training.

“This degree enables our employees to apply what they learn in the classroom to their work at Chipotle and vice versa,” said Chipotle CEO Steve Ellis. “Employees will gain a solid understanding of business operations including people development, marketing, and decision making.

One of the biggest challenges to going back to school (or getting a degree at all) is balancing work and academics. The Chipotle program is designed to take into account employees’ schedules, and the accelerated 18-month option means students can start cashing in on their new bachelor’s degrees ASAP.

Getty Images | Andreas Rentz

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Jessica Suss

An aspiring food and health writer, native Chicagoan, and nut butter enthusiast. Jessica is also the creator of BiteMeBlog, but don't call her a foodie More.

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