Career Paths for Amazon Associates

UMBC is a proud partner of Amazon’s career choice program. We support Amazon employees at any point in their educational or career journey!

Find Opportunities

We believe that every Amazon associate should be able to build their career, and we are ready to support Amazon employees wherever they are on their educational or career journey.

Career Choice is an education benefit that empowers eligible Amazon employees to learn new skills for career success at Amazon or anywhere else.

Benefits of Career Choice

• Hourly blue badge employees full-time and part-time are eligible to participate 90 days after starting at Amazon in the USA. Outside of the USA, eligibility starts after 1 year of blue badge tenure.

• No lifetime limit. Students can use their yearly Career Choice budget each year they remain eligible at Amazon.

• Both internal and external job placement opportunities.

• Fully prepaid tuition and reimbursement of fees.
The employee is responsible for any amount exceeding their budget.

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UMBC’s academic programs include everything from the arts and engineering to pre-professional studies and social sciences. Plus, you can make your own path by blending disciplines in creative ways.

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Eligibility FAQ

What happens if a student leaves Amazon?

Employees will lose their access to the Career Choice benefit if they are terminated voluntarily or involuntarily. However, if an employee leaves Amazon before completing their course(s) that were previously paid for by Amazon, they are not required to pay Amazon back for their Career Choice program.

Furthermore, if the employee submits a payment request before their termination for course(s) with a start date after their termination, Amazon Career Choice will still honor the payment request to allow the employee to complete the courses tied to that payment request regardless of whether they stay with Amazon for the duration of the of the program or not.

NOTE: An employee can apply for a payment request up to 90 days before their course start date.

What happens if a student creates a payment request and then leaves Amazon?

If the associate was eligible at the time of submitting the payment request, the payment request will be honored and be valid for one payment request as long as the request does not expire. They however, will not be able to submit new payment requests foradditional courses.

The payment request must be actioned within 120 days of class start date, and should not be submitted more than 90 days prior to the course start date.

What are Career Choice Offerings?

Career Choice offers 3 educational tracks (Foundations, Pathways, College) and coaching services. For all Career Choice approved offerings Amazon pre-pays tuition, coaching services and mandatory school fees. Additionally, students can submit book reimbursement requests if they have available funding in their yearly Career Choice budget.

Foundations
For more information on our Foundations offerings, see this video.

Pathways
For more information on our Pathways offerings, see this video.

College
For more information on our College offerings, see this video.
In the college vertical we fund credit-bearing courses that lead to:
• Undergraduate Certificiates
• Associate Degrees
• Bachelor’s Degrees

Career Choice will not cover tuition for Continuing-Education courses or classes that are non-credit bearing in the College vertical.

Coaching Services
For more information on our Coaching Services, see this video.

How to Apply

Eligible Amazon Associates and prospective UMBC students may begin their journey by applying to UMBC directly, or through the Amazon Career Choice program.

Apply to UMBC Directly

Our Undergraduate Counselors are available to help you explore course options, develop a personal pathway, and support you on your academic journey.

Apply to UMBC as an Undergraduate Student

Apply through Amazon Career Choice

Sign in and submit your request to "Apply to Career Choice" to discover all the pathways available to you as an Amazon Associate.

Apply to UMBC through Amazon Career Choice

Counselor Spotlight

We’re here to help, no matter where you are in your college search.

Our team of counselors can guide you through questions about what to study, what it’s like to be a Retriever, and even the basics of financing your education. Explore our list of counselors below and find the person who works with students from your area, whether that’s Prince George’s County, Maryland; Arizona; or across the globe.

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Dale Bittinger
Assistant Vice Provost
Undergraduate Admissions and Orientation