The University of Arizona has been selected as an education partner for Amazon's Career Choice program, an education benefit that empowers Amazon employees to learn new skills for career success at Amazon or elsewhere.

Through the partnership, Amazon hourly employees will be eligible for tuition assistance toward any University of Arizona Online undergraduate program. In addition, UArizona will offer Amazon employees a 10% discount on all undergraduate and graduate programs.

Amazon's Career Choice program meets individual learners where they are on their education journey through a variety of opportunities including tuition coverage, industry certifications designed to lead to in-demand jobs, and support for foundational skills such as English language proficiency, high school diplomas and GEDs.

"The University of Arizona Online is delighted to partner with our friends at Amazon to broaden employee access to quality online degree programs," said Craig Wilson, UArizona vice provost for online and distance education. "We look forward to playing an active role in helping these students achieve their educational goals."

In the U.S., Amazon is investing $1.2 billion to support more than 300,000 employees by 2025 and help move them into higher-paying, in-demand jobs.

"This partnership with Amazon will benefit our students for decades to come," said Kara Forney, UArizona executive director of corporate initiatives and business development. "We are proud to see this investment from Amazon in their future."

Amazon's Career Choice program has a rigorous selection process for third-party partner educators, choosing partners that are focused on helping employees through their education programs, assisting them with job placements and offering education that leads to career success.

After only seven years of operation, Arizona Online has quickly emerged as one of the nation's top providers of online education. For the second year in a row, Arizona Online was ranked among the top 10 in U.S. News & World Report's Best Online Bachelor's Programs ranking, tying for No. 7 out of 361 ranked programs overall and tying for No. 5 among public universities.

"We're looking forward to the University of Arizona coming on board as an education partner for Career Choice, adding to the hundreds of best-in-class offerings available to our employees," said Tammy Thiemann, global program lead of Amazon's Career Choice program. "We're committed to empowering our employees by providing them access to the education and training they need to grow their careers, whether that's with us or elsewhere. We have intentionally cultivated a partner network of third-party educators and employers committed to providing excellent education, job placement resources and continuous improvements to the experience. Today, over 80,000 Amazon employees around the world have already participated in Career Choice and we've seen firsthand how it can transform their lives."