Aberdeen McDonald's Pays For Employee To Get Her College Degree

ABERDEEN, NJ — A young woman who works at the McDonald's on Rt. 34 in Aberdeen recently finished college, and her degree was entirely paid for by McDonald's corporation.

Samantha Levenhar, 28, lives in Old Bridge. She started working at the Rt. 34 McDonald's when she was 20 years old; she started as a regular employee but rose to become a shift manager.

Obtaining her college degree was always at the forefront of Levenhar's mind. She had been working at the Aberdeen McDonald's for six years when, at the age of 26, she learned about McDonald's Archways to Opportunity program.

Through Archways to Opportunity, McDonald’s provides several options for employees: Store managers can receive up to $5,250 in tuition reimbursement each year; store employees up to $2,500 in tuition assistance. But if McDonald's employees enroll in Colorado Technical University (all online), they get their college degree entirely paid for.

Levenhar said she knew she had to take advantage of it.

"I knew I wanted to continue my education, so when the time was right, I returned to college after six years," she said.

She did the entire college coursework from home while working full time at the Rt. 34 McDonald's. She just recently graduated and earned a college degree in business administration, with a concentration in human resources management.

"I was able to continue working with a full-time schedule while attending college full-time," said the young woman. "I never took on student loan debt."

Levenhar recently got married, as well. For now, she plans to keep working at the Rt. 34 McDonald's.

"My degree has helped me strengthen the skills I use every day in my current role," she said. "From ensuring compliance with McDonald’s and Marinello Family Restaurants policies to training, coaching and onboarding new employees, both my education and career have given me a strong foundation in employee development and operations. I also work closely with restaurant management to achieve performance goals and maintain high operational standards, whether that means improving productivity, delivering excellent customer service or planning shifts efficiently. I am very thankful for Alana, the entire organization, and all my colleagues for the help and support over the years."

That McDonald's is owned and operated by franchisee Alana Marinello, of the Marinello Family Restaurants corporation.

McDonald's also offers its employees ways to earn their high school diploma, take ESL classes to learn English, get tuition assistance, and receive free educational and career guidance.