BigBobby,
I was reading your post and I think it is so great that you've continued your education.It's a dream I've always had but has always seemed unattainable.From reading your post,you make it sound so easy.You mentioned in one of your post that there were plenty of cheap loans and free money for single parents to go back to college.You also said something about not even having to work much while in school.I've searched and I come up empty.I would really love some of your information on this.I've searched the web and tons of books and can't really find much.Any help would be wonderful.Thanks, Trish

trish

lol...i get a thread named after me in this section? That's nice I've talked about this so many times in so many threads though. I think that I'm going to do this one through a series of posts. Would you mind going back and forth with me for a few posts?

I gotta first state that I only know about going to brick-and-mortar schools: schools that have classrooms and classes you must attend a few days each week, and a list of courses that will ultimately end up in a degree. These schools typically participate in the Federal Student Aid programs.

The first step is to actually find the school and program in which you want to enroll. Honestly, that's the fun part to me because it's where all the daydreaming happens. It's the step where you look at something you'd realistically like to do for a living, and find the education necessary to make that career happen. You said you work in a hospital? Do you want to stay in the hospital or at least in the medical field (good field BTW)? Go to your HR department and see what jobs they have, what those jobs pay, and what certification they require to hire for those positions. They can probably recommend schools in the area. If want to take an entire new direction for your career, you can research jobs/salaries/qualifications in other ways but the important thing is to understand what qualifications will result in what salary later.

Once you've gotten the information about the job you wish to train for, you need to find out from the school how many classes are needed for their degrees and how much it'll cost you to take them. We can do that after you've responded with the job/qualificatoin info I asked you to get above. lol...seriously...go nuts...it's fun to daydream, even when parenthood forces you to daydream practically.

Later,
Bobby

Well sheesh, ms. trish...you're not making this easy for me, are you...

Well how about this. I looked up colleges in East Tennessee. Here's a link

I picked one of the colleges from there: Pellissippi State

Heh...I dunno if it's located around you or not. I also dunno if you mind, but I picked Accounting for your major. Here is the list of courses you'd have to take -> Accounting Classes

Realistically, if you work full time, you'll probably have to take some classes during the Summer and it'll still take more than 2 years. They have a schedule for the classes, and I checked on one of them (ACC2000 - Principles of Accounting). It seems to be offered at a whole lot of times during the day (if that's possible for you), and there's a 3hour Thursday class and a WWW class as alternatives. I bet most of the classes you'd need to take, would be similarly scheduled.

Next, for financial aid, you actually need to enroll and apply to find out how much you'll get. Really, the only data I have on the amounts they give, are the amounts they gave me. I went to school twice, and both times I got grants&loans to pay for tuition plus some extra money that I put towards living expenses. I'd recommend enrolling in the school, and signing up for all of the classes they expect you to take in your first semester as a full time student. Then apply for the federal aid, and see how much they offer you. If you decide you can't handle the schoolwork, you can cut back on your classes but understand it'll reduce your financial aid. You might decide to cut back on your job, however, and try to finish the degree in two years instead. With the aid, it might be possible...

After two years, you should know enough to get a job that pays you better and is less demanding. You know, you might just go to school full time for one year, and then already be able to get a better job that's not hard to keep while you finish your classes. I also checked with a univeristy in TN online, and they accept the credits from Pellissippi State, so if you feel like getting a BS afterwards it should be an option.

Anyway...that's the best I can offer today. I'd love to get discussion about this topic though...

Later,
Bobby

Hi Bobby,
Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you.I'm trying to get my life in order,straighten out and change alot of things that aren't working for me,talking with you has really helped.
I realize that things aren't going to change unless I make them changeAnd with help from you,and the others on this board,I feel that I can do this.It is so nice of you to take the time to look up all this information for me.I appreciate it so much.I had checked out Pellissippi College before and it was one that I was considering.I am thinking I might take something like medical records and coding or something like that.
From when I went to school before they are saying that I owe them 250.00 that I didn't know I owed and they won't release my records until I pay that.My plan,yes,for once I have a plan,lol,is that when I get my taxes in Jan. I am going to pay that and then apply to a college.I want to take online courses and finish as soon as I can.Hopefully by the time my son is in high school,2 more years,things will be alot better for us.I'll keep you posted.

Heh...well, just know that I'm not going to lighten up on you about this...

It sounds like you're talking about starting school again next Fall. Is there anyway you could speed that up and start in the Spring? It would speed up your plan by 9 months...that's quite awhile.

You owe $250 to another school? How many classes did you take there? If you registered for classes this Spring, you may be able to take classes needed for your degree, before you're had all your credits transfer from the other school. It's just an idea.

Online courses from well established universities are good; employers usually can't even tell that they were taken online. I'd stay away from the online universities though. I'm sure some people will argue that they're fine schools, but realistically it's unproven how much those degrees will earn you in the marketplace. I also know that my company doesn't consider applicants with online degrees, and I can't imagine we're the only ones.

Don't give up on taking a full load of classes during the day, instead of working too. You should at least see how much the student aid would be for that situation, and then decide if you could live that way or not. In the long run, the quicker you get through school and into a better paying position, the better off you will be...

Anyway...I'm going to keep checking up on you...

Later,
Bobby