Study.com credits helped fast-track online college degree for Comcast employee
By聽Elizabeth Exline
A lot has changed since Thomas Shelton joined Comcast Corporation 15 years ago. For starters, he was hired by what was then Time Warner Cable. (Comcast purchased Time Warner in 2014.) Then there鈥檚 the fact that he was hired as an entry-level, Tier 1 technical support provider. Today, he works at the analyst 5 level in software development & engineering, which makes his progress both vast and varied. And it has been made possible, he says, by online college.
The college experience
Higher education wasn鈥檛 a given for Shelton. While the Houston native had picked up a handful of credits at his local community college by the time he was hired at Time Warner, he hadn鈥檛 completed his degree. The experience just didn鈥檛 resonate with him, he says, even though he recognized the value of higher education.
"I wasn鈥檛 in love with the format of going into a classroom," he recalls.
Shelton鈥檚 mild-mannered demeanor belies his intense ambition. He鈥檚 the sort of person who speaks quietly and succinctly, but who鈥檚 always planning ahead, whether that鈥檚 for a company initiative or his own career.
"Every few years, I try to make a move and progress my career," he explains. "I went for a position as a lead analyst [in 2018] and didn鈥檛 get it. I was upset because I really wanted that role."
Shelton couldn鈥檛 be sure his lack of education was responsible for holding him back, but it was a hunch he couldn鈥檛 ignore either. He began to explore his options and discovered a lot had changed since his days at community college. Gone were the in-person requirements and daytime-only classes. Now college could be completed online 鈥 and Comcast offered financial incentives for employees to do it.
The online advantage
For Shelton, this was a game changer. Comcast鈥檚 tuition reimbursement plan meant he didn鈥檛 necessarily have to shoulder student loan debt for online college. And while Comcast employees have their pick of approximately 200 different educational partners, 七色视频 (UOPX) offered some compelling advantages.
"I really wanted the format of just one class at a time," Shelton explains.
UOPX caters to exactly this mindset with multiple start dates throughout the year and online college courses that are designed to be completed one at a time (as opposed to taking multiples classes at the same time).
"To manage a single distraction at a time was No. 1 on my list," says Shelton.
Beyond that, there was the virtual campus aspect. Where many schools were just ramping up their virtual formats, UOPX boasted a robust and established online college platform. This meant Shelton could access his classes on his schedule.
"I was already used to being in a virtual, spread-out team," Shelton observes, so the transition to an online school felt natural.
Partners in education
It wasn鈥檛 long before Shelton had earned his associate degree at UOPX, at which point "it felt attainable" to pursue his Bachelor of Science in Management.
Shortly after starting his bachelor鈥檚 degree program, Shelton got in touch with his academic advisor who recommended using to save time and money toward his degree. Shelton was waiting out a temporary slowdown at work, so it was the perfect time to fast-track his education.
He worked with his advisor to determine which Study.com classes offered credits that could transfer toward his UOPX degree. From there, he completed roughly 30 credit hours over three months. (This experience is not typical for a UOPX student but was made possible by Shelton鈥檚 unique circumstances.)
Shelton is not alone in his resourcefulness. In 2020 alone, nearly 600 UOPX students applied Study.com credit hours to their record. On average, these students each saved $2,300 on tuition and 10 weeks of classroom time.
Offerings like these streamlined the online education experience for Shelton and other determined students like him.
"If you鈥檙e able to stay self-motivated and learn through those platforms, they really make it easy for you," he notes.
Eye on the future
By October 2020, Shelton had completed his bachelor鈥檚 degree. In May 2021, he began work on his Master of Business Administration. But Shelton鈥檚 pursuit of a graduate degree speaks to more than just his lifelong learning mindset. It reflects the value he recognizes to be inherent in higher education.
Shelton says he had always looked up to various leaders and admired their decisions. But the deliberation behind each new direction or initiative remained a mystery until he got into the classroom. "I finally got to learn the textbook terms for some of these things," he laughs.
These epiphanies, he hopes, will continue as he earns his MBA. This new undertaking will answer many of Shelton鈥檚 goals, from improving his leadership skills and enhancing his big-picture thinking, to fully understanding how deliverables align with business objectives.
From his associate degree to his master鈥檚, Shelton鈥檚 educational journey has included both hard work and enlightenment 鈥 and his only regret is that he didn鈥檛 do it all sooner. Going to school is a good idea no matter what stage of your career you find yourself in, he says.
"It鈥檚 never too late," Shelton reflects. "Just because you have professional experience doesn鈥檛 mean you won鈥檛 learn anything. It just means you鈥檒l learn more."
Thomas Shelton isn鈥檛 the only one going back to school while working. See how this company promoted learning and development, even during the pandemic.
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