Degree Earning Opportunities For Single Moms

It might be more possible now than ever for many single moms to pursue higher education-even while working, raising children and struggling to pay the bills and saving for college for when the kids are older. Grants, scholarships and other forms of pell grants are available to help pay for tuition. And online degree programs make it easier for single moms juggling daily demands to fit studies in to seemingly frenzied schedules.

“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.

For single moms, “online college” allows the time for self-development during their children’s naps, early bed time, school and play time. Single moms can also create weekly timetables that detail for their families what their class, study and homework schedule is, according to a column by communications specialist Kelly Kennedy, who specializes in financial strategies for single moms at the MindComet marketing agency.

Taking college courses online is no less expensive than taking them at a “bricks and mortar” institution. But expensive as it might be to pursue, higher education has become a reality for a wide variety of people.

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 been endorsing college enrollment especially for single moms. And online college for single moms could provide advantages in that moms don’t have to worry about having to pay for child care or having to squeeze in to-and-from campus travel time.

Those who make time, set aside money and research assistance now to further their education can reap better rewards down the road. Especially with the help of grant online. 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 grants for single moms are to be found is U.S. Department of Education’s FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) that has a Web presence just as other college financial aid outlets do.