Full-time Job + Part-time Study?
Five Good Reasons It Adds Up.
“There are many advantages to going to college part time while working full time,” says a blog post by M. Reynolds on HubPages. She received associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees while attending college part time and working full time.
You can read her entire blog post here. Below is a recap of what Reynolds views as the top 5 advantages of going to college part time while working full time:
1. It’s Much Cheaper: Since most companies offer tuition reimbursement, the average part-time student who is also working full time should be able to cover a majority of their courses using these benefits, especially at the undergraduate level. In my experience, my companies’ tuition reimbursement plans covered about 80% of my college education. Since my master’s program was on the expensive side, I had to fork out more of the expense. In the end, I did not have to take out any loans.
2. You’ll Be More Effective in Your Day Job: If you have some work experience, college classes will be more relevant. If they’re more relevant, they’ll hopefully be more interesting; you’ll be more engaged as a student and ultimately learn more. Then, you can immediately apply what you’ve learned to your day job. While I was attending classes, I learned some great project management, presentation, writing, and team building techniques. I also found that taking classes was a nice break from my day-to-day routine and helped spur some creative thoughts and ideas related to my day job.
3. It Offers Great Networking Opportunities: Part-time college classes are a great way to make new friends and meet new business associates. You’ll have the opportunity to meet hundreds of other students and faculty. When you go to college full time, you tend to stay with the same class of students for your entire degree program. Part time, you have different mixes of students in every class. Some college professors are experts in their field of study, and they know all the other experts in their field. They can be instrumental in helping you connect with the right people and may be willing to give you job recommendations.
4. It Protects Your Income in This Down Economy: In the past, a husband, wife or domestic partner may have considered quitting their job to pursue their degree full time, while their significant other continued to pay the bills and support the household. Today, quitting your day job to go to school could be very risky. Your partner might lose their job and there may not be another job for you after you graduate.
5. You Can Make Your Own Schedule: Many top colleges are offering part-time degree programs online. You can work at your own pace, and complete college work almost anywhere by leveraging online tools. In addition, you can choose exactly which on-site classes you want and what nights or weekend days you want to take them. You can design a part-time schedule around your unique requirements.
3 Steps to Affording College As an Adult Student
When adults want to return to college after spending time away from school, the scholarship and financial aid process can be intimidating. Follow these steps to make college affordable as an adult student.
This great advice on finding scholarship opportunities and financial assistance comes from Matt Konrad of Scholarship America.
Step 1: See if you qualify as independent—and how you can benefit. One of the major differences for returning adults is a change in FAFSA status. Students who are over 24, enrolling in a post-bachelor's program, married, have children at home, or who otherwise meet the FAFSA criteria are considered “Independent Students,” so the process is different from dependent students. The FAFSA for Independent Students requires reporting your own income and tax information. The benefit to reporting as an independent student, of course, is that parental assets won’t be taken into consideration, and that may lead to your FAFSA demonstrating more financial need.
Step 2: Find out if you qualify for undergraduate aid. If you’re returning to school for a bachelor's degree—either as an independent student or a dependent—your next step is to look into federal Pell Grants. These funds are overwhelmingly focused on students who have not yet earned a bachelor’s degree, and independent status will help you demonstrate the appropriate level of financial need to qualify.
Step 3: Go scholarship hunting—with focus. Are you a member of any professional organizations that may help fund further education? Can you get a foot in the door at your chosen school, via loan or work-study funding? If so, your work and connections may lead to fellowship consideration.
Matt Konrad has been with Scholarship America since 2005. He is an alumnus of the University of Minnesota and a former scholarship recipient.
University College has a variety of scholarships, grants, and financial aid options for part-time students. Call 315-443-9378 for information about financing your education.
TEDCenter Helps Retrain Individuals to Compete in Job Market
The Talent and Education Development Center (TEDCenter) at Syracuse University helps businesses in the Central New York region match qualified workers with job openings.
Housed at University College (UC), TEDCenter is dedicated to improving the quality of the workforce in Central New York. TEDCenter’s goal is to ensure that its programming provides students with the skills they need to achieve economic stability.
Stephanie Mayne is the Human Resource manager at M.S. Kennedy Corp., a Liverpool company that has been designing and producing high performance analog microelectronics for forty years. As the HR manager, Mayne receives a flood of resumes for every job opening. It’s easy for Mayne to determine what type of work ethic potential candidates possess; however, finding workers with the specific skills that will fit well with M.S. Kennedy’s requirements is sometimes a challenge. “We can assess whether or not a candidate has the basic capability to do the job,” said Mayne. “But it’s harder to gauge whether or not a person is going to be able to expand on those basic skills and adapt them to our unique processes.”
Michael Prockup was an unemployed worker over the age of 50 who knew he needed to sharpen his skills to compete in a struggling job market. Prockup heard about the Unemployed Worker Training Program being offered at UC and was anxious to have his skills assessed. The Certificate of Workplace Competency tested Prockup in three key areas: reading, mathematics, and locating information through reviewing graphs, flowcharts, and diagrams.
“Having graduated with a B.S. degree more than 35 years ago, I was curious about how I would perform in the areas tested,” said Prockup. “In the 1970s there was no internet and the method of instruction I received was very different than it is today.”
The Certificate of Workplace Competency shows employers that job candidates have the skills they need and is an excellent way for potential employees to showcase their abilities.
“Michael came to us with purchasing experience. By taking the skills assessment, he demonstrated that he wanted to keep up,” said Mayne. “He is pro-active and took charge to ensure us that he would stand out as a strong candidate.”
Prockup was impressed that the staff of the TEDCenter assisted him with his job search by contacting prospective employers to endorse him as a candidate. “This was a major selling point to me as an unemployed worker over the age of 50 who had an uphill climb,” he said.
For more information about the TEDCenter or the Certificate of Workplace Competency, contact Karen DeJarnette at ksdejarn@syr.edu or Andrea German-Willis at ajgerman@syr.edu, or call 315-443-5241.
» Undergraduate EDUCATION DAY, August 8, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Drop in anytime—no appointment needed. Learn about admission and financial aid. Visit parttime.syr.edu/EDday for details.
» Fort Drum Education Day,
August 8, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Commons, P4350 Euphrates River Valley Road, Fort Drum, NY
» UC will be at Mary Nelson's Youth Day BBQ on August 17, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., at the corner of South Salina Street and Wood Avenue.
NEWS TO USE
PSYCHOLOGY DEGREE—
ALL EVENING CLASSES!
Call an advisor for more information, 315-443-3261.
PLAN AHEAD FOR SPRING 2014 Start the new year with an online, flexible format, or on-campus class.
“I saw having a degree from SU as being the most proactive step I could take to succeed in a competitive job market.”
Robin Morgan ’11
