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Single moms often juggle two full-time jobs—work and child-rearing—and many nevertheless struggle economically to survive. It’s difficult enough for some single moms to set aside money for a child’s future education, let alone pursue or complete work toward their own college degrees. But grants, scholarships and other forms of financial aid can help offset the costs for single moms who want to go back to school. And online degree programs can offer the flexibility they need to continue carrying out other responsibilities.
“Online degrees” are considered to carry the same significance as those obtained by physically attending a college or university, Ladies Home Journal Editor-in-Chief Sally Lee told Ann Curry in a Today Show interview. And online degree programs are available from many prominent colleges and universities as well as from accredited online-only schools.
In a column posted on the Web site, singlemom.com, Kelly Kennedy, a specialist in single mother finance strategies at the MindComet marketing agency, recommends that moms create weekly schedules to make family members aware of when classes are held and homework and other studies required.
Enrollment in online college courses costs about the same as it would to physically attend a school – and that, no doubt, that can be pricey. But higher education is no longer reserved for the privileged few, and women for years have outnumbered men in American colleges. Researchers have learned that women’s grades tend to be better than those of men and that more men tend to drop out, according to a February 2010 New York Times article. Older, low-income and black and Hispanic women tend to form the majority of female students, the article reported.
That’s according to information from researchers cited in a February 2010 New York Times article, which detailed that most female college students are older, black and Hispanic and described as low-income.
President Barack Obama has encouraged single moms to pursue higher education. Online college for single moms can mean saving money on costs otherwise needed for child care and saving travel time, because they don’t have to commute to and from campus.
Those who make time, set aside money and research assistance now to further their education can reap better rewards down the road. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statics reports that high school graduates without college degrees in 2007 made a median $31,408 while individuals with bachelor degrees took in a median $51,324 and those with doctoral degrees earned $60,580.
A good place for single moms to start the search for grants for college is the U.S. Department of Education’s FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) that has a Web presence just as other college finance outlets do. Governments, non-profit organizations and colleges and universities offer college loans, loans and work study programs to qualify single mother grants in need of financial assistance.
