NEWS: Disney Announces Cuts to Cast Member College Tuition Benefits

Disney4me · September 6

Disney’s college tuition assistance program is changing.

©Disney

The program, known as Disney Aspire, has provided tuition assistance to thousands of Cast Members since 2018 across Disney World and Disneyland. Since it debuted, Disney Aspire has provided 100% upfront tuition coverage for certain schools along with other benefits. Soon, that will be changing.

Recently, some Disney Cast Members received an email from the company that services Disney Aspire, advising them that the program would be changing as of November 27th. As part of these changes, Disney is introducing an annual funding cap of $5,250 to in-network Aspire schools. However, the email continued that these funding caps will eventually apply to students at all schools.

In addition, the Disney Aspire program will no longer include Master’s programs or Penn Foster Trades programs despite having done so in the past.

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Magic Kingdom Cast Members

Disney said that the funding cap will apply to tuition, books, and any additional fees for each funding period, which runs from late November (the 27th in this case) to late November of the following year. Students who are currently enrolled will continue to have the current term fully funded by Disney, but the amount could potentially count toward the funding cap for 2025.

Additionally, Disney recommended students reach out to their schools directly to discuss options before future enrollment. Additionally, any amount spent that exceeds the new annual cap will be billed to the student from the school.

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We LOVE Cast Members!

Students who are currently enrolled in Master’s programs and Penn Foster trade programs have been grandfathered in and may continue schooling, but the funding cap will still apply. There is no more new enrollment for these programs under Disney Aspire.

This change to Disney Aspire is likely due to federal tax implications for tuition assistance programs, which limit the nontaxable amount of benefits to $5,250 per calendar year per taxpayer. Other companies have the same funding cap including Home Depot, Apple, and Starbucks, and state that most students will not go above the $5,250 federal limit.

For example, the current in-state tuition rate at the University of Central Florida (UCF) near Disney World is $212 per credit hour, which would pay for at least 18 credit hours per year (a typical part-time college course load), with cash left over for books and additional fees.

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Animal Kingdom Cast Members!

Still, this is a major change for Cast Members, especially as so many cite the Disney Aspire program as being a reason for working at the company in the first place, and a reason to continue doing so.

Statistics released by Disney Aspire this year show that 1 in 4 applicants to hourly roles at Disney say the tuition assistance program is their primary reason for applying to work for the company. There are over 11,000 active students, nearly 50% of which are people of color, and more than 60% of which identify as women.

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Graduation ears!

Upon request for comment, a spokesperson with Disney said:

“Since Disney Aspire was first introduced, we have continued to evolve the program to meet the needs of our cast members and employees, as well as the needs of our business.

Disney Aspire continues to offer an evolving catalog of programs and degree options across various fields of study, skills and professions, providing our eligible employees the opportunity to pursue disciplines and diplomas including high school equivalency, English language learning, and undergraduate degrees.

In addition to Disney Aspire and our education reimbursement program for salaried employees and cast members across the U.S., we also offer a variety of hands-on learning, training, and career development experiences that help employees and cast members to get to where they want to go professionally.”