<p>I have heard of companies sponsoring their employees to get their doctorates. And I mean true sponsorship - in the sense that you not only keep your job position, but you also get paid a salary while you’re getting your PhD (although that means that you are still an employee and so you are still responsible for attending company meetings and completing other work that the company may want you to do). And of course you are obligated to return to the company to work for X number of years after you graduate. However, depending on the details, and whether you enjoy working at that company, it could work out to be a very good deal. For example, Merck used to have (and may still have) a sponsorship agreement with Rutgers where employees could study for their doctorates fulltime while still getting a salary from Merck.</p>