Starting this fall, Disney World workers who want to study at the University of Central Florida --- the largest college in the state --- will be able to attend for free.
Disney and UCF officials announced Thursday that the Orlando-based university will be added to the Disney Aspire education investment program, which offers free tuition to eligible employees.
The company put $150 million into the program, which was launched in August.
Since then, roughly 40 percent of Disney’s 85,000 full-time and part-time hourly employees have signed up for the program. More than 6,000 are taking classes, officials said. “Many of our students already are Disney employees who will immediately benefit, and this program has the potential to change lives in our community for generations,” UCF Interim President Thad Seymour Jr. said in a prepared statement.
UCF will be the first school in the Disney Aspire network to offer a bachelor’s degree in entertainment management, which focuses on the hospitality industry and theme-park management.
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