Earn While You Learn

March 10, 2026

Education is important, but it is only part of the self-reliance equation. Educated people need quality jobs to achieve self-reliance.

BYU-Pathway Worldwide serves students in more than 180 countries around the world. Unfortunately, many of these countries have unstable or insufficient job markets, making it difficult for students and graduates to find work locally—even with their increased education.

BYU-Pathway is closing this gap between qualified workers and quality employment by partnering with companies that connect students and graduates with online jobs. The income and flexibility offered by remote work allows students to earn while they learn, helping them become more self-sufficient as they finish their education. Online jobs also provide students with valuable work experience that helps them launch their careers before they even graduate.

In addition to providing tuition discounts, your donations to BYU-Pathway help support these partnerships and career development programs, making it one more way you are changing lives.

Nomcebo Matsetela started studying accounting at a local university in Johannesburg, South Africa, but it was slow going. She had to pause her schooling after each semester until she could save enough money to pay for another semester. After a few years, Matsetela was laid off from the bank where she worked, and college slipped out of reach.

Several years later, Matsetela’s hope for higher education was rekindled when she found BYU-Pathway. The cost was more affordable than her local university, and with help from donor-funded tuition discounts, Matsetela began working toward a bachelor’s degree in applied business management from BYU-Idaho—this time without any interruptions.

In two years, Matsetela earned two certificates and an associate degree. With those qualifications, she was able to secure an online job as a treasury specialist for Nursa, a US-based company that operates a healthcare staffing marketplace. The flexible hours allow her to work evenings while her husband takes care of their three children.

Matsetela’s job is also giving her valuable career experience. Within a year of working at Nursa, Matsetela has been promoted three times, and the company has created a new department for her to manage.

Connecting Students with Jobs

Matsetela found her remote job through Bloom, a social-impact staffing company that partners with BYU-Pathway to connect students and graduates with online jobs.

Bloom’s cofounders, John Pearce and Eric Engebretsen, both served as full-time missionaries in developing countries where they witnessed firsthand the gap between talented people and job markets. “Why do I have all these opportunities while the people I came to know and love on my mission have a different experience?” Pearce wondered. Engebretsen felt the same way. “We became really passionate about creating opportunities [for them] like we have here in the US,” he says.

BYU-Pathway collaborates with many companies to help students find remote work. A partnership in 2025 with Lifewood, a global AI data and analytics company, resulted in the company hiring more than 5,000 BYU-Pathway students and opening new employment centers in seven countries.

One of the students hired by Lifewood was Rija Bernard from Madagascar. With experience in business administration and technology, Bernard was assigned to lead two projects: one in genealogy and the other in data capture for autonomous vehicles. Before long, Lifewood appointed Bernard country head for Madagascar.

Lhyn Santos, a managing director for Lifewood, credits donors for helping the company rapidly expand into new countries and employ thousands of BYU-Pathway students. “We are not just doing projects,” she says. “We invest in people. There are a lot of potential leaders out there. If we give them the right opportunities, mentorship, and trust, they can be leaders in their homes, their communities, and the Church.