Back To College Without The Campus

Maybe money has gotten a little tight. Or maybe the kids will soon all be in school and you’re ready to return to the work force. Whatever your circumstances, you’re heading for the ever-competitive job market and weighing your options for some training and education.

But of course, there’s the catch-22. While you’re still home with the kids, it can be tough to get much education and still have time for normal family activities, like eating. So what’s a devoted parent to do?

Thankfully, this hurdle isn’t as high as it was when our own mothers faced this situation. For example, if you investigate accelerated degree programs online at Gwynedd Mercy University, you’ll find that schools have more options with shorter time frames than there have ever been before. You’ll feel just like any other college student, but you’ll have different–and better!–answers to the things that all of us have in pursuit of a degree.

About five minutes after nap time starts. Isn’t that nice? The fact is that online programs can slide right into your daily schedule whenever they need to. Say goodbye to all of the last-second child care issues, traffic problems, parking shortages, and rain-soaked backpacks. Hello to the kind of time and flexibility that you’ve never seen before. You can schedule around all your known conflicts and get work done when the opportunity presents itself.

That’s up to you. Today we’ll be on the front porch swing, but tomorrow sounds like a poolside lecture. This is so different from traditional on-campus learning that it’s hard to comprehend. Think of the time, money, and effort that go into living on campus. How much of someone’s total student loans and time “away at college” was actually spent getting to campus, into a dorm, back and forth to class, and back home every so often? Does it really make sense to move to another city in order to spend only roughly 16 hours a week in class? Distance learning gives college–the actual sidewalks and buildings–the least possible effort and lets you focus your learning dollar–and your learning minute–on the parts of college that matter.

Well, there’s no real reason to leave the classroom if it’s not raining. If the porch was nice for lecture, let’s just stay there to review notes afterward. And if the sun goes down, there are ways to deal with that, too.

In all seriousness, though, it’s the same as classroom time. There’s no reason to take a ten-minute walk across campus to a deathly silent library just to study when your own reading chair back home would be far more conducive to learning.

One real advantage of physically attending classes is the opportunity to make new friends and gain study buddies. For the work-force returner, though, you probably have enough friends to cover your social needs. So what you need is someone to work through challenges in class with you.

The great part about online classes is that everyone is online, so they all have the same circumstances as you. They all need someone to study with, so they’ll utilize social media and educational technologies to connect and communicate. And you’ll all end up with the backup you need to be successful.

Going back to work is a big decision for the parent who’s been 100% committed with their time to giving the kids what money can’t buy. But when that transition time comes, it’s important to remember that it’s a chance to provide some of the things that money can buy. What amazing learning experiences could your kids have once they start school, if their parent is bringing home enough money to pay for educational trips or amazing family vacations? The tough part is figuring out how to get qualified for those opportunities, and today’s distance learning choices streamline the whole process.