T for Tuition: Fairbanks Tea Company Supports Student Workers

“We’re like the tea version of a brewery,” Tse says. In addition to sales through its website, Sipping Streams distributes its products through more than 350 retailers across the state. Sipping Streams also does dozens of retail pop-ups each year, from Arctic Comicon to Kodiak Crab Fest.

Under the tuition program, both full- and part-time employees can accrue the benefit. To qualify, they must work at least eight days a month and complete a six-month probation period. The program limits eligibility to employees 18 years and older.

Tse says conversations with two of her high school employees gave her the idea. When she realized the cost of college might discourage them from trying higher education, Tse asked one, “Well, what if I pay for you to have a class?”

Employees who aren’t yet 18 years old can accrue credits for when they become old enough. Tse says she wants to “make this more of like an investment account.”

Tse says she was willing to use the program to also cover “fun” classes other employees were taking, but that led to some conversations about unrealized dreams. “I was super excited” by what came out, Tse says. “It brings me deep joy to help people fulfill their dreams, if I can.”

For other businesses interested in such a program, Tse encourages looking first at the company’s mission. “It all has to do with understanding the people that you’re hiring and your company culture,” she says. “You really have to understand what your business is all about… If you are not centered on what you’re all about, how are you to keep people on board? Because it’s not always about money.”