TWU providing tuition discount for Athens city employees

In an effort to expand educational offerings for the City of Athens, Tennessee Wesleyan University and The Friendly City have entered into an agreement providing discounted tuition to city employees enrolling in TWU’s adult degree completion programs.

“The wonderful public servants that make up Team Athens know and value the need for ongoing education,” said City Manager C. Seth Sumner. “Our City is successful because of our people and our commitment as an employer to allow our people to grow their skills, knowledge, and training.”

The agreement provides a 10% tuition discount for City of Athens employees enrolling in the Professional Leadership in Criminal Justice (PLCJ) or Management Excellence (ME) programs.

“As City Manager, I have always emphasized and allowed time for our team members to better themselves through continuing education,” added Sumner. “This new relationship between the City and Tennessee Wesleyan, our local university, opens a new door to formal education and degree completion to help our team become stronger for the community, for themselves, and for their families.”

The PLCJ program allows adult students to complete their bachelor’s degree in criminal justice through a fully online, flexible program. A new addition to the offerings at TWU, the PLCJ program is headed by Deb Wallace, a 30-year veteran of criminal investigative service. The ME program is for students looking to complete their bachelor’s in management and is offered both online and with in-person offerings in Athens.

“This agreement between TWU and the terrific city where we were founded is a great savings perk for employees of the city,” said Wallace. “We are very excited to have more employees from our hometown joining the TWU Family through this agreement, and ultimately we hope to expand these types of partnerships regionally and statewide.”

Students wanting to apply to either program must meet a set of criteria. For more information on those critera, and to start the application process, visit tnwesleyan.edu/plcj or tnwesleyan.edu/me.