Making the decision to return to school for any reason is very daunting. There are many things to consider from finance to time. To this end many websites have cropped up in an attempt to garner money from unsuspecting would-be students. All of them promising to be The Answer to getting your new degree in as little as 6 months. How do you sort through the mass of information suddenly swamping your email and snail mail box to find the right program that meets your needs?
One of the first things anyone should do before giving out any personal information on websites or over the phone is to determine if the school is accredited. The last thing you want is to spend time and money only to find out you are not in an accredited school. Or that the credits you have from previous education or life experience will not apply. Look at the schools website. One of the basic rules of thumb is that if the website does not say its accredited, it usually is not. If you still have doubt about the school go to The US Department of Education of Accredited Post Secondary Institutions and Programs website at http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. Simply contact the help desk and they can assist you.
If you live near a campus, be sure to take the tour. Depending on the type of degree, you may be spending a lot of time here. Meet the instructors who run the labs or field exercises. Given the chance talk with a few of the students and see how they like the environment. Class environment is important regardless of taking classes online or in a classroom. Instructors should be comfortable with the material and the presentation of it.
Now, that you have done the homework on the school and you have been accepted, it is time to find the money to attend. The easiest place to start is at the schools website. For example University of Phoenix’s website has a page that covers tuition at http://www.phoenix.edu/tuition_and_financial_options.html. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and they list for you under Payment Resources and Reducing the Overall Cost some of the options the school provides to help pay tuition. If you are military or prior military you may use your GI Bill to help cover the cost of your education. If you scroll back up and look to the left hand side of the screen you will see a tab that says Scholarships. Listed here is the information you need to find what scholarships or grant programs the school itself offers. Do not take the websites word as gospel, many schools offer other options year round for students who have a good scholastic history.
There are many other sites to look at before you decide whether you can afford to pay for school or not. FastWeb is a wonderful resource for finding the grants or scholarships you can apply to. Not only that, but they also provide information on how NOT to apply for scholarships. Many people fail to realize that scholarship programs are offered year round. There is a program for everything: good grades;not so good grades; if you are a minority; a woman; single mother; Native American and the list goes on. Be sure to fully read all instructions and qualifiers. Some programs require that you submit verification records from schools or notarized copies of other pertinent information. If you would like to apply for any type of government assistance through the Pell Grant, Perkins or Stafford loans you will need to fill out your FAFSA at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/. It is the only way to be considered for any of those three programs.
Do not neglect your local library. Many libraries sell used books, you just might get lucky. Libraries are also a good place to advertise for a study partner. Not only does it provide a nice quiet place to work, but your are near research materials too. For those who happen to live near a campus, go to it. Even some of the online schools have a campus site with facilities such as a computer room that students are welcome to come and use. Take advantage of tutoring services being offered, in many cases they are free for students.
The last but certainly not least is trying to find time to attend. There is no such thing as finding time to go to school. Making the decision to go back to school is the easy part. Making time to attend is the hard part. Once there is a schedule in place, it is easier to make time. For example an easy to moderate online class will usually have the students turning in assignments at least twice a week. These assignments must be researched and the materials for them must be read. Then there is classroom participation. This is nothing more than answering the instructors questions and responding to the post of other students. Essentially students must be "in class" a certain number of days and participate a certain number of days.
- Read syllabus and class calendar- shows what assignment there are and when they are do
- Create a schedule for study time-this can also be done during lunch or quick breaks at work
- Be study place is in a quiet location-no one can study if they can not hear themselves think
- Read all instructor notes-many have instructions for the class or website
- Start first assignment- get in the habit of turning in assignments a day early
- Start any projects-it is a mistake to wait until the last minuet to do heavy projects such as the final
Making time to study and attend class will get easier the more those around you realize you are in school. Do not be shy about asking people to come back later. If studying can only be at home, ensure younger children are settled down before beginning. Older children will like to do homework "with" you. Set a good example of how to make time to study and get your work done in a timely manner. A little thumbs up from the kids can go along way to keeping you on track.
