Consumer financing company Synchrony has launched a program that lets eligible U.S. employees earn a debt-free associate degree in high-demand skilled trades — including HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and welding — with tuition covered by the company. The skilled trades pathway, unveiled July 7 at a Women in the Trades forum at Synchrony's Cincinnati-West Chester office in Ohio, is open to all eligible employees after three months of service.
The program arrives as the trades face a deepening labor gap. Nearly 500,000 skilled trade jobs sit unfilled in the United States today, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics-linked figures cited by the company, and 2.1 million more positions could go unfilled by 2030.
How the Skilled Trades Program Works
Synchrony is delivering the benefit through a partnership with Bright Horizons EdAssist, drawing on a network of more than 20 technical colleges, community colleges, and trade-school programs. Options include paid apprenticeships, employer-based training, and hybrid or on-campus models with hands-on lab and shop learning. The tuition benefit covers up to $24,000 per year for degree programs, plus up to $9,000 annually toward more than a dozen technology certifications, and a 12-month technology apprenticeship pathway.
"Skilled trades power our homes, businesses and local economies and provide an essential service to people and families, yet the talent gap is growing," said Kelli Nesseth, senior vice president and general manager at Synchrony. "This program gives our people a debt-free associate degree pathway, building in-demand skills for the future across the industries we serve and opening doors, even to business ownership."
Why a Lender Is Funding Skilled Trades Degrees
Synchrony's business runs through the trades: the company is one of the largest providers of consumer financing for home improvement work, including HVAC replacements and plumbing projects, and it ties the new degree fields to growth areas such as data center operations and advanced mechanics. The program expands an existing tuition benefit under the company's Education as an Equalizer initiative, which previously added healthcare and education fields.
The announcement came at a forum that gathered Women in HVACR, Women in the Flooring Industry, and National Women in Roofing alongside industry employers including Bosch Home Comfort Group, Mitsubishi Electric Heating & Air Conditioning, Rheem, Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup, Floor & Decor, and ServiceTitan. Panelists included Synchrony executives Theresa Kraus, Marisa Diiorio, and Fanaye Taye, along with Kristin Gallup, the 2025 president of Women in HVACR.
Building the Pipeline for Women in the Trades
"Synchrony's new tuition program and scholarship support are the investments we need to help more people, including women, enter high-demand trade careers," said Jane Sidebottom, president of Women in HVACR. "As the skills gap widens, building a job-ready pipeline is essential for the next generation of leaders and the customers and communities they'll serve."
The Synchrony Foundation has donated $150,000 to Women in HVACR for scholarships and nearly $1 million to skilled trade programs nationwide since 2021. The company frames the degree pathway as a workforce investment that can carry employees beyond corporate roles — including into contracting business ownership.
What It Means for the HVAC Labor Market
Corporate tuition programs aimed at the trades remain rare, and Synchrony's move puts a Fortune 500 financial services employer in the business of producing HVAC-credentialed workers. For an industry where contractors consistently rank technician recruitment among their top constraints, every new pipeline matters — and a debt-free associate degree model removes the cost barrier that keeps many career-changers out of trade programs.
Whether other large employers outside the trades follow suit remains to be seen. But the structure — a financing company underwriting trade education through an established education-benefits administrator and a 20-plus school network — offers a template that could be replicated, and the announcement's placement at a women-in-trades forum signals where organizers believe the largest untapped labor pool sits.
Eligible Synchrony employees can enroll through the company's existing education benefits platform. The company did not disclose enrollment targets for the program's first year. Synchrony, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SYF and is ranked the No. 1 Best Company to Work For in the U.S. by Fortune and Great Place to Work, frames the benefit as both a retention tool and a contribution to the labor pipeline serving the home improvement industries its financing products depend on. For the HVAC trade specifically, that alignment is unusually direct: every additional credentialed technician expands the installation capacity that ultimately drives financed equipment sales.
