Aurora-based Children’s Hospital Colorado is ending full tuition reimbursement for workers for certain healthcare degrees, The Denver Post reported Dec. 11. 

The news follows Children’s partnership with Guild, an education platform, to offer tuition-free learning benefits to employees. The partnership, launched in April 2022, provides employees access to Guild’s programs from education providers. These programs include undergraduate and graduate degree options, high school completion and college prep, among other offerings. 

The hospital also agreed to pay up to $5,250 annually for employees to access additional programs within Guild’s learning marketplace. Programs focus on areas such as healthcare, business, technology, psychology and hospitality.

Leila Roche, a spokesperson for Children’s, told Becker’s the organization decided to make changes to the scope of its 2024 Guild educational offerings in the catalog due to significantly higher-than-expected use. 

“This was a very difficult decision and one we did not make without serious consideration of various options,” she said.

The decision has left some workers trying to figure out their next steps, according to the Post. A Children’s nurse who is pursuing a master’s in a behavioral health field told the newspaper she is unable to apply for financial aid before the next semester begins, and the up to $5,250 a year for tuition that the hospital will still pay for employees will not cover the full cost of her program, which previously had been fully covered.

“They gave us about a one-month notice,” said the nurse, who spoke to the newspaper on the condition of anonymity over fears she could lose her job. “A lot of us don’t have five, six grand saved to pay for our next term.”

Ms. Roche said employees currently enrolled in all programs will be able to continue their education with tuition support paid up front by the hospital up to $5,250 annually for each team member enrolled. 

“This limit was already in place for some programs and now will be implemented for all programs. ‌For 2024, we also had to limit new enrollments in our Guild catalog but will continue to allow enrollment in critical, hard-to-fill areas,” she said.

Overall, Children’s has committed more than $11 million to team member education through Guild since offering the program. Ms. Roche said the hospital “remains dedicated to making a significant annual investment in this benefit and the education of more than 1,000 team members.”