by Christina Couch
|
|
How, you wonder? Thanks to online graduate studies programs, like the one Verma is taking through Strayer University, earning a master's degree is as convenient as logging online. For parents as well as working professionals, online study provides a viable way to balance responsibilities in the classroom and in the home or office.
Back-To-School Blues
"The reason I started in school again was because I had been in IT for a long time," says Pramod, a computer engineer with 10 years of IT experience already under his belt. "To succeed in today's marketplace, I needed some sort of business background. My wife already had two master's degrees and I felt that I should also have a graduate degree completed."
With one child already in school and a new baby on the way, Pramod knew that a return to school absolutely had to fit in with his work and home schedules. "I knew if I prolonged it," he explains, "it would have been tougher and tougher."
Pramod began his back-to-school endeavor in a traditional classroom, but soon found that campus classes did not give him the time nor the flexibility he needed to take care of family dinners, diaper changes, and bedtime stories after a long day at the office. After just a few courses, Pramod made the switch to online studies. That decision also gave his wife the ability to pursue her master's degree in professional accounting
"I felt very uncomfortable going into class, not getting to see my family. That was very hard for me," he says. "My wife was also taking classes at the time. Both of us doing it was too hard."
That is, until Verma took to the cyber classroom. Earning a master's degree in business management through Strayer meant the freedom to be a full-time IT technician and a full-time father. "I can do my classes and submit my assignments whenever I want. I can just download my lectures and then go to them one by one [within] the flexibility of my schedule," says Verma. "Online study saves me time."
Verma isn't alone. According to a study by ThinkEquity Partners, LLC, a private economic research firm, the U.S. higher education market in is projected to reach $11 billion in 2005, a large part due to the influx of parents returning to the classroom for a new degree or certification. Furthermore, online programs specially designed to fit the financial and scheduling requirements of parents and other multitasking adults have emerged at 90 percent of four-year public colleges and universities and 40 percent of private colleges.
With nights, weekends, lunch breaks, and naptimes open for study, parents are finding that going back to school can be both practical and possible. "I start off with work in the morning hours, around 8 or 9 o'clock, sometimes if I get time during the day, I visit my online course for 10 or 15 minutes," says Pramod. "I always go to my site and figure out what I'm doing with my assignments. Most of the time, I do them at night or over the weekend."
Just because you can read up on management theory while the kids do their homework, don't think that online study is a breeze. Expect the same amount of homework, reading, and outside projects that would be assigned in a traditional classroom. For every credit hour taken, anticipate at least two to three hours of outside study.
A Lesson in Patience
In June, Pramod will finish the long road to his degree. He plans to continue in his current position, but use his business management experience to become a more valuable asset to his company. "Initially I thought it would be very hard to go through all this [school] again after a gap, but I found it to be very useful with day-by-day learning," Verma states. "Going into a degree program after having a family is not too hard." The key, he says? Have a little bit of patience.
© 2006 Classes USA, Inc. All rights reserved.