Going back to school

darqness

Dear H/A,

I am interested in going back to school to obtain my associate/bachelor's degree. I have worked for the same small business for the past 9 years. Starting all the way from the bottom at minimum wage, and ending up managing the entire business for $55k a year. I am somewhat satisfied with the job that I am currently at. The pay is good, the schedule is SOMEWHAT flexible since it is a small business as we only do about $300k quarterly, and I feel that the owner knows how valuable I am to the company. If I were to leave he would be lost for several months, as right now I pretty much do everything and handle all aspects of running the business. Which allows him to take longer vacations, and not worry about the store were any emergencies to come up that would tie him up for weeks. However he has entertained the idea of selling the business in the past, which left me feeling as though the business could potentially go any day (the day someone offers him 4 million for it).

The problem is that I feel--were we to go out of business for any reason--I would have a HELL of a time finding a job with comparable pay, since I have a lot of experience, but no degree. And without a degree I am really limiting myself in regards to career changes in the future. I foolishly dropped my classes for my Associate's degree when I was offered the manager position, and still have around 20 credit hours left to complete it. I cannot complete it at the local community college, because I commute 45 minutes South, and the college is located 20 minutes North of me. Meaning I wouldn't be able to get back in time to make any classes.

I've looked into WGU university who offers a Bachelor's in administration/management along with a couple of other degree programs. The only major thing stopping me is that my wife just gave birth to twins about 6 months ago. So as soon as I get home I am tied up from 6:15 until 8:30-9:00. My wife also takes online classes with WGU for a teaching degree. My biggest fear is not having enough time in the evening to competently complete assignments to maintain a decent grade.

I don't entirely know what I am looking for here, whether it is anecdotes of people in similar situations completing an online degree, or a "Hey, you ought to wait until 'X' time to start this". Or just general advice regarding going back to school or which online programs to consider. I realize that the major fear I mentioned above would be something I would have to "push" through or work through myself.

bean23

First, do not quit your job. People with Bachelor's Degrees are struggling for that kind of job and a resume that shows that you successfully managed a business will likely be excellent. Also, if the business is sold, then you will likely be kept on as you are the guy who knows the business. That makes you an asset. In fact, you might be able to negotiate for a raise with a new owner because they will need you.

However, if you do want to finish out school, that's a great goal. You need to go to your local university and talk to them about course times. Often, many colleges will have evening/weekend courses available. You might not be able to take a full loud of 12-16 hours/semester, but you have a job that many graduates would love to have already, so there isn't any rush and believe me the experience you have as a working manager looks even better on a resume than having completed college.

Edit: To be honest with you, for some jobs, a degree is a minimum requirement for consideration - especially as there are many people with degrees who are underemployed right now. So there is benefit in getting a Bachelor's Degree. It's also something to be proud of and it will help you be better at your job. So please don't see the advice above as me saying that a degree isn't important. It's helpful, but you have a job now. You probably won't ever get laid off and if you do get laid off, you may be able to get the employment commission to pay for some of your classes depending on what state you are in. Even if they don't help with tuition, you can collect unemployment while attending class full-time and that's not a bad position to be in.

Basically, keep sittin' pretty.

darqness

Sorry, I should mention I'm not considering quitting my job. I would work full time while completing my degree.
Funny enough another employee just left the business and the owner gave me a $5,000.00 raise. I suppose a good first step would be to call my local colleges to see what options are available.
I really appreciate the advice and encouragement.

ED!

Since you have a wife and kids (twins rule) I'd probably not think of doing the BA until your wife was good and done and perhaps the kiddos were a bit older; at some point you are going to exhaust the number of classes you can take in your major that work with an evening schedule. At least that was the roadblock I ran into years ago. If this campus has a robust evening schedule all the better though - there's nothing that says (other than financial aid) you have to carry a full course load while attending "big boy" school.

ceres

Many colleges also offer some online options, depending on the course, the teacher, and so forth. It's worth looking into when you're looking for schools with evening classes.

Sterica

My community college offers online courses, and I strongly recommend looking into whether or not yours offers those because community college is very affordable when compared to four-year schools.

Jimmy King

I'm employed full time, married, have a newborn (Nov 9.), and am working on my degree. What I can tell you is that you can do it, but it won't be easy. I have the time issue and I just have the one child and my wife isn't also in school. I've been keeping it to 5-10 credits per semester depending on how difficult I expect the actual classes to be and one 3 credit class over the summer where it's condensed to 6 or 8 weeks. Sometimes this means just one class during a normal semester as well (my calculus classes have been 5 credit classes) to ensure I get a decent grade.

I would recommend looking at local community colleges. The classes are cheaper, sometimes a bit easier, and the teachers tend to be more understanding about students who have work, families, etc. They may have an agreement with a local 4 year university for you to transfer in with some benefits after getting your associate's degree. For example my community college has an agreement with VCU where as long as I take the right classes, I am guaranteed to transfer into their computer science program (which is more difficult than just getting into VCU itself) as a Junior.

DevoutlyApathetic

While I would encourage you to get a degree it kinda looks like now is a bad time for it. With your wife also tied up getting a degree you don't have much "Household" free time and if there is one thing you will need it is time.

With 9 years in business I would also strongly encourage you to look into places that do lifetime learning assessments. You will have already had quite a large amount of college level knowledge of business applications. With a school geared towards adult learners this could easily generate enough credits to fill out a Bachelors concentration if not more.

Where are you located?

Thundyrkatz

Since you are very close to the end of your associates degree. Is it possible to take off early from work on the days that you have class? Night classes are often just once a week per class and taking off an hour early once a week may not be a big deal to your boss.

darqness

Thanks everyone. These answers were kind of what I was looking for. Everything in our culture/media was giving me the impression that I was foolish for putting it off, however it sounds like that would be the right choice since adding more work right now wouldn't be wise.

I'll also be getting back in touch with my community college to see if there are some online courses I could take to inch my way closer to at least finishing my Associate's in the meantime. I am positive I could at the very least handle a class (maybe two!), and if I were going for my BA I'd like to handle a full workload.

@DevoutlyApathetic I hadn't heard of lifetime learning assessments. I assume that will be a question for an advisor at the local colleges.

End result: I will see what I can do to chip away at my Associate's that is manageable, and wait for a better time (when the girls aren't as needy and my wife is further along/done with her degree). I feel incredibly lucky to have the job I have, however I feel that might be the reason I am also wanting to get my BA. So that if I lose this job, I don't have to try and get "lucky" again. ;-)

DevoutlyApathetic

They are also sometimes referred to as Prior Learning Assessments (PLAs) and Credit by Evaluation (CREs). They are big in my school which is a state school whose primary mandate is adult learners. I'm from the liberal utopia of New York though, your state may or may not have similar schools around.

darqness

We're in Missouri here. So it'll be a huge contrast compared to New York. Worth an ask though.

Enc

First, if you go to look for an online degree make sure they are nationally accredited. Things like University of Pheonix and Everest are always advertising their online options but typically they are not accredited or are considered degree mills to the extent that a diploma from there is not worth the paper it is printed on.

Second, stick (where possible) to national state college system. Most universities are offering one or two online degrees, with little to no overlap per state. That means you probably can find a lot of options within your state for online offerings while still maintaining in-state tuition (which is critical).

Most states in the union have about a dozen schools in the state system (one or two major universities and a bunch of regional colleges). I would suggest going to the Missouri State Board of Education and look at their university system listings, then see what options are available at each as a place to start.

ceres

No don't go for an online degree program.. you want a normal degree and see what courses they offer for it online. Big difference.

Also look to tests like CLEP to see what credit you can get testing out of courses (really cheap, comparatively), and CBE (credit by exam) where you take the class but don't actually need to attend. You can meet with the professor when you need to, get all the coursework, etc., and it's often a lot cheaper than actually taking the class. You just get the materials and take the tests/final at whatever time you arrange with the professor; all your learning is done by yourself on your own time. My state university allowed us to do this with basically anything the teacher said was okay. I know someone who CBE'd a 300-level course and did well. You need to be pretty motivated and good at learning on your own to make this work, but if you are it's a godsend if your college has options for it.

Enc

To clarify my post, when I say an online degree program with a local state institution I am talking about the program not the diploma. The state university system makes no difference between someone who enrolls in a program that is designed for distance learning students and a face to face lecture student when degrees are conferred, the only difference is methodology. Typically state schools have a limited online catalog, most programs require capstone and upper level courses face to face still, so you will need to shop for what schools offer the program you want. The good news is that most state systems make sure each school in the state institution offers different online majors so there are more opportunities for locals.

If you have any general questions, send me a PM. I've worked in the Florida University System for a long time and may be able to answer some specific questions as to what you can expect.

Horus

I did the same thing as you but with my masters program. Took longer than traditionally I should but I was working full time and couldn't risk leaving my job due to the market. This year I will graduate and I think going to school, at your comfort speed, and working really helps you grow professionally than either or route.

Jimmy King

The online courses at normal, real college are great. I use them as much as possible for my gen ed requirements. I've done music appreciation, art history, and intro to sociology all online and intend to do my history classes and any english classes I don't test out of/transfer from my first attempt at college online. There are two big challenges with these classes. The first is of course actually doing the work when you're not going to class once or twice a week and being harassed about it. The other is that I have found that the teachers don't seem to modify tests or assignments much from what they assign to people who take in person classes. What this has resulted in is questions that were not covered well in the book and at times incorporate some of the teacher's personality and preferences into the answer, which is much more difficult when all you've done is read the book and possibly a few paragraphs written by the teacher online.