I recently noticed that Starbucks initiated a College Achievement Plan. Starbucks’ partners (employees) who pursue a college degree at Arizona State University (ASU) will receive some combination of tuition reimbursement, scholarships, and other financial aid from the company to help them graduate. Starbucks’ partners may choose from 40 ASU undergraduate degree programs delivered online.

The plan seems to help with the problem we have in this country of many college graduates and non-graduates being saddled with excessive student loan debt.

Starbucks’ effort reminded me of a similar initiative we are taking at my own college, Lansing Community College (LCC), to reduce the cost of higher education and simultaneously improve the KSAs (knowledge, skills, and abilities, or knowledge, skills, and attitudes, whichever definition you find most useful) students will need as employees, entrepreneurs, lifelong students, and citizens.

 …