Chick-fil-A, one of the most popular restaurant chains in the U.S. — and also one of the most openly Christian and conservative — showed what treating employees well looks like when they partnered with Point University in Georgia and Ficus Education, a company that helps businesses give their employees access to debt-free college, to help nearly 200 employees graduate from college without any student loan debt this year.
For context, according to press accounts, a group of over 120 Chick-fil-A franchise operations partnered with Point University, a private Christian institution in Georgia, and Ficus Education to help 177 Chick-fil-A team members earn degrees without taking on any debt. Doug Danowski, CEO of Ficus Education, and Andre’ Kinnebrew, Chairman of the Board at Point University and former Chick-fil-A team leader, spoke to QSR Magazine about their initiative in a May 14, 2025, interview.
In the interview with QSR, Kinnebrew explained the motivation behind helping so many CFA employees earn debt-free degrees, saying, “Anything we can do to grow Operators and team members, that’s what matters.” He added, “This program is making dreams possible for so many people. This is worth growing. It needs to double — one hundredfold.”
In addition, Kinnebrew told Fox News Digital that through partnering with Ficus Education, “We’ve been able to create this day when Chick-fil-A team members are going to walk across the stage and get their four-year degree or their master’s degree, which is going to bring them forward in their careers.”
Furthermore, Ficus Education CEO Doug Kanowski told QSR, “Every graduate represents a story of perseverance, support, and opportunity.” Kanowski went on to describe the initiative as “what it looks like when businesses champion education, not just as a perk, but as a strategy for long-term growth and impact.”
Continuing, Danowski said that the initiative began “as one operator’s desire to invest in his team,” adding that the debt-free college degree program “has grown into a national movement: hundreds of degrees earned, over an estimated $11 million in student debt avoided, and real business impact.”
Concluding, Danowski told Fox that the partnership with Point University and Chick-fil-A was “built around one question: How can we help operators recruit, develop and retain their people, and strengthen their restaurants?” Kinnebrew added that the program enables employees to keep working for Chick-fil-A or “go somewhere else and be a doctor or a lawyer or whatever [they want to be].”
In addition, Danowski confirmed that since the program got its start in 2023, over 500 independent operators of Chick-fil-A franchises have taken part, helping to eliminate millions of dollars of student debt for hundreds of employees. Furthermore, according to QSR, the 177 students who graduated in 2025 saved more than $6 million thanks to the generosity of their employers.
Featured image credit: Chick-fil-A, Inc. via X