Mr. Arnold, who was chosen by his store in Staunton, Va., to attend the shareholder meeting, said he would like to pursue a career in cybersecurity.

“I’d like to advance into something bigger,” he said.

Activists groups — including Organization United for Respect Walmart, which was staging demonstrations in Bentonville through the week — argue that the company should raise hourly wages to at least $15, a figure that Walmart’s rival Target has committed to. Another group, Making Change at Walmart, a project affiliated with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, said it was skeptical of Walmart’s promises and pointed out that the company had announced its wage increases the same day that word spread of the planned closing of 63 Sam’s Club stores.

“At best, if this is more than a publicity stunt, then Walmart is merely playing catch-up to other multibillion-dollar companies when it comes to providing benefits to its workers,” the group’s director, Randy Parraz, said in a statement.

Walmart officials did not provide an estimated cost for the tuition subsidy, but they expected that about 68,000 employees would probably enroll during the first five years, based on those who have expressed interest and an analysis of similar programs in other industries.

The University of Florida is probably the best known of the universities in the Walmart program. Brandman University, which has multiple campuses in California and an online curriculum, has a focus on Hispanic students. The billionaire investor Joe Ricketts, who founded TD Ameritrade, is among Bellevue University’s benefactors.

Walmart said its goal was to help employees obtain a college degree without having to take out loans. Walmart workers enrolled in the program would not be required to pay for their education upfront and seek reimbursement later. When Starbucks first announced its tuition subsidy and a partnership with Arizona State University in 2014, the company was criticized for pushing the risk onto its workers by making them pay up front.

Walmart workers will qualify for the benefit after 90 days of employment and will not be penalized if they leave the company before finishing their studies.

The tuition subsidy will apply only to associate and bachelor’s degrees in two programs that are somewhat related to retail work, but the areas of study could be expanded to other areas in the future, Walmart officials said.