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When you have a young family, one of your main priorities is to be able to provide for them financially. However, without a good education, it’s often impossible to progress very far in your career as many professions require a college degree or at least some formal training. Because of this, the number of parents who are returning to school is on the rise. But, as a parent you will probably be worried about the impact that returning to education will have on your family life. Along with the need to continue working through your studies in order to both fund your education and support your family, there’s also the worry that you might miss out on valuable family time due to being too busy. Thankfully, there are many alternatives available to parents.
Online Learning
When it comes to furthering your education as a parent, flexibility is one of the essential factors that you are looking for. Since family life can be hugely unpredictable, it’s especially important to make sure that you are studying a course which allows for you to be as flexible as possible with your time. Online learning offers a much greater degree of flexibility for students, making it the perfect choice for parents. With online learning, you can gain any qualification from a high school diploma right up to a doctorate in nursing practice or similar.
Studying Part Time
For many parents who already have an established career and simply want to gain further qualifications in order to further this, studying part time is a good option. Part time study allows you to continue working – for example if you’re a nurse who wants to achieve a doctor of nursing practice degree – and is more flexible than full-time working, as well as cheaper. You can also take part-time courses online, to be in full control of your own education.
Financial Factors
When returning to education as a parent, the financial side of things is often the most worrying factor. Since going to university costs thousands of dollars, many parents worry about how they are going to fund their education as well as support their family financially. In order to make sure that you don’t end up struggling for money, it’s important to fully plan out your financial future and research all of the different financial aid options available to you. If you are choosing to return to education in order to further your career, you may be able to get help with funding from your employer, for example if you’re a nurse who is planning to study for a DNP online. There are also various grants and loans available to students from a variety of different associations, as well as financial support which is targeted specifically at students who are parents.
When you have a family, you have your children to think about no matter which decisions you are making. Although going back to school is a lot more difficult when you have family responsibilities, there are many ways to make it work.
I do think it is wonderful to have On-Line Learning now. It makes it so much more convenient although I know it is a lot of work also.