Parents Going Back to College - Are Online Degree Programs Worth It?

Parents who didn't complete a college degree may reach a crisis point in their career where the lack of a college degree makes job prospects or promotion opportunities difficult. For adults with kids, a full-time job and a busy social life, trying to go back to college may seem daunting. But plenty of mothers and fathers enroll in online bachelor degree programs to finish what they started.

Online Degree Programs for Non-traditional Students

The beauty of online college is that it's so convenient. The drawback is that there's no set schedule, so if you're not ruthlessly disciplined, it can be easy to procrastinate. Without a face-to-face professor and a 3:25 p.m. class time, online degree programs can be tough to manage if you're not well organized.

Any adult learner who is managing kids, though, has some serious time management skills. Parents like Jennifer Shaft, a student in the Western Governors University online teacher certification program, or Tracy Kelley, an online master's degree graduate from University of Northern Colorado, handle the balance well. It takes focus and careful attention to detail.

Tuition Assistance for Adult Learners

What about money? For some parents, the cost of tuition isn't an issue. Many employees receive tuition benefits for programs like RN to BSN nursing degrees, or find that tuition assistance is offered by a large corporation. How do parents without these resources handle paying for going back to college?

Student loans. While a larger family might get grants for Mom or Dad to go back to school, most families use some form of student loan to get through an online bachelor degree. That's fine if you have a plan, as a family, for a parent to become a non-traditional student. Be sure you know how to get a return on your tuition investment after the degree is in hand.

Online Bachelor Degree

Deciding which online bachelor degree program to choose is tricky for some non-traditional students. Do you go with an expensive, for-profit private school? A small state school? A huge flagship state campus?

As more traditional, well-known state schools begin to offer online degree programs, going with an established, accredited state school is often a non-traditional student's best bet. Tuition is lower, the school has strong name recognition (important on a resume), and services are generally better.

Whether to go back to school or not is an individual decision, but it also is a family systems issue - so be sure to talk about online degree programs with the entire family. Emphasize the time commitment the adult learner needs to make, and discuss physical and financial strategies for making it work. On graduation day, that sacrifice will be worth it, but it needs to be a whole-family sacrifice with complete support for the whole endeavor to be worthwhile.