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I wouldn't bet on itshim's route. Most schools cannot afford to let anyone on their payroll get a degree for free. At my alma mater, their rules are pretty similar to most schools:
--faculty and exempt-status staff only (i.e., management level, not hourly workers)
--tuition reimbursement is a scholarship not an employment benefit. as such, only limited scholarships are available, and you must meet and maintain academic performance criteria to qualify. not everyone who applies will be admitted to the scholarship program.
--you can only enroll after paying students have enrolled, so you may have to wait a long time for a seat to become available in your desired class. many find for certain classes they just have to enroll as a paying student to be able to get the classes they need to finish their degree
--you must be employed full-time for one full academic year before applying for the scholarship
--you must remain employed full-time by the university while taking coursework.
--you must remain employed full-time by the university for 24 months following the completion of coursework or you have to pay all of your tuition back.
Some schools won't even allow you take the classes for credit, you can only audit them. It would seem a safer bet to try to get a job with a major employer in your field, that offers tuition reimbursement. At least then you'd get relevant work experience and tuition covered. But they will likely have rules too, like one year of full-time employment, etc.
My grad program has a special work fellowship for second year students who excel at technical theater- since I've been a professional stage hand for 6 years, I'll almost definitely get that, which means I have at least one year virtually covered. See if they have things like that you can apply for.
Are you planning on going to a state school or a private school? Can you live at home? Do whatever it takes to get the costs down, even if it means going to a second choice school that is much cheaper. There are only a few fields (medicine, business school and a top 30 law school) where taking on enormous debt usually pays off.
It may not hurt to see if you can defer for a year and move home, work hard and save up as much as you can.
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