For a company that prides itself on being customer-centric, Costco offers a treasure trove of employee benefits. From competitive wages and healthcare coverage to retirement savings plans, these perks set Costco apart as a company that cares for its employees.
For 25 years, the Costco Scholarship Fund has brought business leaders together for an annual fundraising breakfast to support highly qualified underrepresented students at Seattle University and the University of Washington. This year’s breakfast raised a record amount for the fund.
Costco Employee Scholarship
Costco is known for its excellent employee benefits and perks. The company understands that investing in employees fosters loyalty and builds a foundation for success, which is why it offers an array of competitive wages, healthcare coverage, and retirement savings options. These extensive employee benefits have helped Costco become a leader in the retail industry.
Costco offers employee-only health insurance with affordable premiums and low deductibles. It also provides a generous 401k match, which further enhances the savings potential of its employees. In addition, the warehouse club has a variety of programs that can help employees achieve their career goals. These include Journeys for All, a program that offers career education and mentoring, and Supervisor in Training, which helps connect warehouse employees with management opportunities.
Another perk of working at Costco is the ability to enjoy exclusive employee discounts on a wide variety of merchandise. This can make the retailer a good choice for people looking to save money on everyday necessities and big-ticket items. Employees can take advantage of the company’s many partnerships with brands to save on everything from clothing and food to travel and entertainment.
Finally, Costco’s competitive salaries are another reason the company attracts so many employees. Unlike other retail positions, which typically pay minimum wage, Costco employees start at a higher rate and receive regular wage increases. For example, service assistants make an average of $17 per hour, and workers in more specialized roles at the pharmacy or optical center earn up to $25.
In addition to providing outstanding employee benefits, the Costco Scholarship Fund helps aspiring students realize their dreams of a college education. It awards scholarships up to $2,500 for an academic year for full-time or regular part-time Costco employees who are enrolled at a U.S. accredited college or university. This year, 57 incoming students will join the ranks of past Costco Scholars at Seattle University. Their stories of triumph over adversity — including overcoming a speech impediment, a language barrier, and financial constraints — showcase the spirit of the company’s mission to serve communities.
Costco Scholarship Fund
The Costco Scholarship Fund provides financial assistance to students who are interested in pursuing a degree at Seattle University or the University of Washington. The scholarships are awarded to underrepresented minority students with significant financial need. In addition, the foundation offers the Jim Sinegal UW Graduate and Professional Fellowship in honor of Costco co-founder Jim Sinegal’s commitment to education. This award is a 2-year stipend and tuition coverage for UW-based programs for Costco Scholars who are enrolled full-time in a master’s, doctoral, or professional degree program at Seattle University or the University of Washington.
The foundation’s scholarship awards help to ensure that students from all backgrounds can pursue their academic goals and reach their highest potential. The scholarships provide much needed financial support for low-income and underrepresented minority students, allowing them to overcome obstacles and achieve their dreams of a college education. The scholarship also helps to make the cost of higher education more manageable for their families, helping them focus on their academic success.
In a world where students are increasingly diverse, the need for organizations like Costco Wholesale to promote diversity and inclusion is more critical than ever before. The company’s commitment to enhancing access to higher education through their scholarship program is unwavering, and the impact it has on the students it supports is immeasurable.
Each year, SU and UPW host the Costco Scholarship Breakfast to raise funds for their scholarship programs. The annual event brings local business leaders together to support the next generation of community leaders and innovators. The breakfast has raised over $40 million for the scholarships since its inception in 25 years. This year’s breakfast was a record-breaking event, raising more than $7.3 million for UPW and SU.
For incoming students, the scholarship can be a life-changing opportunity. It enables them to break down barriers to a transformative education by providing financial assistance and one-on-one guidance. In doing so, the scholarship empowers them to reach higher, go farther and have an extraordinary impact locally and around the world.
For a long time, Seattle University has been committed to making its degree more accessible to students with limited resources. It’s a big reason why the university is ranked as the most socially inclusive selective private university in the country and the top school for economic mobility, according to the New York Times. The scholarships help address the number one barrier to graduation – unmet financial need.
Costco Scholarship Breakfast
For more than 20 years, Costco has supported a diverse community of students through scholarships that break down barriers to a transformative education. The annual Scholarship Breakfast is an extraordinary celebration of these exceptional students, their academic and personal triumphs, and their potential to effect positive change locally, nationally, and globally. Greenberg Glusker is proud to support the 2023 Costco Scholarship Fund Breakfast, which contributes to the success of next generation leaders. Since the first breakfast 25 years ago, more than 2,300 highly qualified underrepresented students have received scholarships to help them pursue their higher education dreams.
The breakfast featured a moving keynote address by Sampson Davis, Rameck Hunt, and George Jenkins, a trio of friends who made a promise as teenagers in a rough area of Newark, NJ, to stick together through college and medical school and to help one another succeed. They now have successful careers as doctors and founded The Three Doctors Foundation to help inner city youth and families reach their goals.
During the event, President Eduardo Penalver announced that starting with this year’s incoming class of Costco Scholars, Seattle University will invest to ensure that 100% of their demonstrated financial need is met. Penalver also highlighted the incredible accomplishments of this year’s 57 incoming scholars who will join a long legacy of Redhawk change makers, including SU alumni like Diego Gael Gonzalez, a sophomore Accounting major from South Amboy, N.J., who overcame a speech impediment, language barrier and financial constraints to achieve his goals.
Costco Scholarships for Underrepresented Minorities
The Costco Scholarships for Underrepresented Minorities are awarded to high-achieving students from underserved communities who are the first in their families to pursue higher education. The scholarship enables students to take advantage of a transformative education that will enable them to make an extraordinary impact locally, nationally and around the world. The scholarship is a recognition of the academic and personal triumphs, ambitions and potential of each student, while also providing them with an unparalleled support system that helps them to overcome barriers.
Applicants must be a high school senior, demonstrate financial need and have a GPA of 3.0 or above. They must also submit a FAFSA application and provide two recommendations from academic or community leaders. Recommendation letters should be from professors or other community leaders who are familiar with the applicant’s academic, professional and/or community work. The scholarships are for full-time, matriculated students attending Seattle University or the University of Washington. Additional information can be found on the scholarship fund’s website.
A longtime partner of the scholarship program, Greenberg Glusker is proud to sponsor the 2023 Costco Scholarship Breakfast and contribute to the success of the next generation of leaders. Founded by Costco co-founder Jim Sinegal, the breakfast is an annual event that brings community members and business leaders together to support low-income students at Seattle University and the University of Washington.
For a quarter of a century, the scholarship has provided access and opportunity to thousands of students from underserved communities. It is the reason why Seattle University was recently named the most economically diverse selective college in America by the New York Times, and why it is one of Washington’s top institutions for social mobility.
One of the most remarkable things about the Costco Scholarship is that it has helped students like Dylan Munn, ’10. A member of the Assiniboine and A’aninin tribes enrolled with Fort Belknap Reservation near Helena, Montana, he credits his Costco Scholarship for helping him to overcome a speech impediment, language barrier and financial constraints to achieve his goal of becoming a lawyer to serve his community.