As of right now I work for Walgreens and they have an o.k. deal to help out students in pharmacy school, but I was just curious about other deals that are out there on the table, if you know of any post them up.
Tuition Aid from pharmacy companies?
- Thread starter Jeffro1984
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You have to work there either a year full time or have 1040 hours part-time. Once you have met the hourly requirement and been accepted to pharmacy school, Walgreens will then reimburse the student $3000 for "pre-pharmacy" courses. If you participate in the program you must remain employed with walgreens as a full-time pharmacist for two years after graduating.
Then they have another program where after your first year of pharmacy school the will give you $1500, after the second year $2000, after 3rd $2500 and $3000 for your finally year. So in the end you get $12,000 and they will have a Full-time pharmacist for 6 years (2 years for the pre-pharmacy reimbursment and 4 year for each year that you take the money that is offered)
It sounds like a pretty good deal, but you would think, if there is such a pharmacist shortage then the companies (Walgreens, CVS, Target etc...) would be throwing out some deals (i.e. money) for pharmacy students to come work for them after graduation.
Then they have another program where after your first year of pharmacy school the will give you $1500, after the second year $2000, after 3rd $2500 and $3000 for your finally year. So in the end you get $12,000 and they will have a Full-time pharmacist for 6 years (2 years for the pre-pharmacy reimbursment and 4 year for each year that you take the money that is offered)
It sounds like a pretty good deal, but you would think, if there is such a pharmacist shortage then the companies (Walgreens, CVS, Target etc...) would be throwing out some deals (i.e. money) for pharmacy students to come work for them after graduation.
Jeffro1984 said:
Thats ALL that Walgreen's offers?!?
I started at Walgreen's as a tech a little over 8 months ago with an average of about 22 hours per week. I knew that they had some kind of a contract deal, but measly $3000 for trapping you for 2 years!?! And only $12,000 for your ENTIRE four years of pharmacy school, thats absolutely nothing when considering the overall cost!! Especially since they have you contracted for 6 years. Ive heard of sign on bonuses way higher than that. And if they have you contracted they dont have to give you a sign on bonus at all. So really, Walgreens gets cheap labor while we get gypped of a hefty sum--to pay off our loans--when we graduate. 
Im sorely disappointed, you would think a high volume reputed retailer like Walgreens would offer more assistance to finincially strugging pharmacy students.
CVS is something like $5000 per year and you must commit a year to work at CVS for each year they pay.
Not a bad deal really if you're paying in-state tuition.
Not a bad deal really if you're paying in-state tuition.
crossjb said:
An additional stipulation to the CVS deal is you must work in certain neglected areas, like Southern NJ, Suffolk County on Long Island, Cleveland, etc. You can't decide to go work in California to repay that year.
Kroger (and supposedly its subsidiaries) offers 6000 a year. The catches are that you have to work 16 hours a week as an intern and give 4 years of work as a pharmacist after its all said and done.
CincyPrePharm06 said:
My Kroger DM told me I could go on leave of absence and not have to work during school.
I'm not signing with them though.
Jeffro1984 said:
Why would anyone commit to 6 years at one place for a measly $12k when they could get at least that if not more as a sign on bonus after graduation...and with only a 1 year commitment? This really seems like a rusty hook to me...
Well its sort of equal to a larger amount of bonus money since you'd be taking out fewer loans, and paying less interest. Still not worth it in my opinion, but to each their own.
I work for Walgreen's now and I think you can get tuition assistance and a sign-on bonus, as well as some pre-pharmacy reimbursement. I swear we recently hired a new pharmacist that had gotten the scholarships as well as the sign-on bonus. There's also something about working 1 day a month minimun to stay on payroll while you're at school so when you get out it counts as having 4 more years with the company so benefits rack up.
I heard that the VA (Veteran Affairs?) Hospital network has a good program too for their workers. They pay 75% of pharmacy school tuition, but you have to work for them for 2 years after graduation. Their salary is ~90k, I believe, for pharmacists. I tried to find out more, but can't find anything at all. Does anyone know if this is actually true?
For those of you considering taking these "benefits" - please read the fine print before you sign up!! I printed the info from StoreNet about a month ago and noticed that (paraphrased) Walgreens reserves the right to transfer you anywhere in the US that they deem necessary while you are a participant in the program ... has anyone else noticed that?!? Even though all of the pharmacists that I work with assure me that they don't enforce this part, I don't think I'm want to take any chances! With my luck, I'd be the first one they "draft" 
I agree about most of these being crap deals. $3000 - $5000 yearly wont even cover all of my tuition. Considering that cost of living is the majority of ones yearly bill one would still owe a zillion dollars in loans. I heard that Indian Health Services will pay back most of your TOTAL loans, in exchange for 5 years of service with a little less pay than average. That is still not a great deal, but the best thing going.
Im just going to loan myself to death the first year, and hope to do well and/or distinctively so I can apply for the scholarships and whatnot I wont qualify for until P2.
Im just going to loan myself to death the first year, and hope to do well and/or distinctively so I can apply for the scholarships and whatnot I wont qualify for until P2.
At walgreens you get the tuition assistance as well as a sign on bonus. I know 2 walgreens pharmacists, graduated the same year from the same school one with tuition assistance and one without and they both received a 15,000 sign on bonus
I haven't worked for Walgreens for a year or two, but when I was there they also had a $10,000 program. It was only applicable for your last two years of pharmacy and required two years repayment. The reason that this was bigger was for the stipulation though: that you had to work in one of 20 pre-determined areas across the country when you got out. These areas were either in the most dangerous part of a large city, or they were in the middle of no-where. So I guess there is a payoff for everything. I'm from the midwest, and I know at the time they advertised it heavily here since alot of pre-pharms here love the country, but I'm not sure if its still around. Hope this info helped though,
astevens
astevens
At my pharm school I found out that if you take the money from any of these companies it could affect the amount you get in financial aid. Also, you would not have the ability to negotiate a higher salary and a lot of these companies have sign on bonuses any way. I believe that these sign on bonuses are likely to be more than the same than those who take these scholarships. I personally would not do it because I would like to be able to take as much financial aid as possible and then bargain for the highest salary and bonus as possible to pay off more of my debt than if I took a scholarship.
- May 7, 2007
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It would suck if you have to go to Alaska for that tiny bit of "scholarship" money.
what they are offering is pathetic. they are getting a better deal x1,000,000. and what happens when you discover you hate retail? 6 years working retail for 12k? id rather be in debt. its not like you cant pay it off making at least 80k+ a year after you get your PharmDthumbdown
thumbdown^ I think you can get out of the deal if you pay back the company. I don't how the payment plan works [you have to pay before you leave walgreens or can it be after????] but that is what I know about the walgreen's plan a year back. I didn't know the bit about walgreens sending you anywhere they want but I guess that must be the "fine print"
Personally, I don't like the fuss of the retail pharmacy but then most of the jobs are there. I would rather work in a pharmaceutical company.
Personally, I don't like the fuss of the retail pharmacy but then most of the jobs are there. I would rather work in a pharmaceutical company.
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