Starbucks says nearly 20,000 partners have graduated through tuition plan

Starbucks said more than 1,100 partners graduated from Arizona State University this spring, the largest class yet in its College Achievement Plan, pushing the total number of SCAP graduates to nearly 20,000. The company said another 27,000 partners were enrolled as of May 11, 2026, giving the tuition benefit a scale that now reaches far beyond recruitment.

That scale is the point for workers on the floor. SCAP launched in June 2014 and gives benefits-eligible U.S. partners 100% upfront tuition coverage for a first-time bachelor’s degree through ASU Online. Partners can choose from more than 150 undergraduate degree programs, and they can start at 20 hours a week, a threshold that matters in stores where hours, scheduling and steady pay still shape whether people can stay.

Starbucks has begun to present the program as a workforce pipeline, not just a perk. About 13% of the company’s U.S. workforce participates in SCAP, and Starbucks says participation has risen 60% over the past five years. The company says SCAP scholars graduate at an 80% rate, 16 points above the national average for full-time bachelor’s degree-seeking students, while more than 20% of coffeehouse leadership roles and 13% of early-career corporate roles are filled by SCAP scholars and graduates.

Those numbers matter most to baristas, shift supervisors and store managers deciding whether Starbucks can be a long-term job. Starbucks says about 75% of graduates report career growth after earning a degree, and 66% say they likely would not have earned it without SCAP. In a company still balancing labor pressure, including organizing and bargaining with Starbucks Workers United, the tuition program gives management a tangible answer to the question of whether partners can move up without leaving the company.

The company has also tied the education benefit to its internal promotion strategy. In 2024, Starbucks set a goal of filling 90% of retail leadership roles internally over three years, and it said that between 59% and 83% of promotions were already internal depending on role and level. SCAP fits that push by building credentials for people who may already know the stores, the café rhythm and the demands of peak.

Starbucks says more than 600 SCAP graduates started through Pathway to Admission, a route created because 1 in 5 partners were not initially academically admissible. That detail is central to the program’s value for first-generation students and workers who would not otherwise see college as realistic while holding down a retail job. Nearly 20,000 degrees later, SCAP now looks less like a recruiting line and more like one of Starbucks’ clearest retention and mobility tools.