<p>I'm hoping someone will have some experience with what I'm currently trying to sort out. I'll be transferring this coming spring to a 4-year university from my CC. I am a single parent, 28, working full-time and have been attending school part-time. When I transfer, my new school doesn't make it very easy for non-traditional students to attend: not a lot of evening classes, and even if you take them you have to petition that they be considered as hours in residence (apparently most people aren't very successful with this request). </p>
<p>One of the benefits to working full-time, aside from the salary for regular cost of living and health insurance for me and my daughter, is the tuition reimbursement my company offers, capped at $6k a year. They aren't really willing to work with me on my schedule so I can attend a class during the day time, so it's looking more and more like the best option will be to quit and go back to school full time, knock the rest of my degree out quickly, but here are the issues I'm trying to resolve:</p>
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<li><p>Is it possible to get enough financial aid to not only cover tuition and books, but support my daughter and I? (I am looking at part-time job opportunities to help supplement) Is that even wise, since a lot would likely have to come from student loans and if I go to graduate school I'll need even more?</p></li>
<li><p>Is there a good time to quit? Obviously my FAFSA through Spring is based off my 2008 income, and when I file next year for the 2010 school year, it will be based off 2009's numbers. I have been qualifying for aid at my CC (Pell and small subsidized Stafford thus far), but I would obviously need more if I'm not working and last I checked there isn't a way to indicate that you're no longer working at that point or that your salary has been recently decreased, thus reducing what you truly could afford with regards to EFC. If I quit halfway through next year, that would help when filing for 2011 aid, but it seems really confusing as there is no way to account for what I would be making at that exact moment, rather than the what I earned in the previous tax year.</p></li>
<li><p>If I quit or take a huge salary decrease, what, if any, government aid might become available, like for health insurance, etc.? I know that my university offers health services for students, but not anything for dependents and I can't leave my daughter uninsured.</p></li>
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<p>Any advice or insight from personal experience is greatly appreciated. I really want to be able to plan this out, at least in part, before I go to my new advisors and ask for assistance with chasing down a ton of financial aid to stay enrolled.</p>
<p>Others here know more about the financial aid rules/options, so they can probably offer good info on that, but I do have first-hand experience with this since I returned to school earlier this year after a long absence to raise my kids. </p>
<p>If I’d had an employer who provided benefits and also chipped in towards my tuition, I would be very hesitant to leave that job. Are you willing to consider other colleges? I could not juggle school with my work, family obligations, etc. if my college didn’t offer evening classes and online courses. There are many colleges that offer distance learning (online) courses, which can be a great option for working parents. </p>
<p>Honestly, I think it would be pretty tough to support yourself and a child on financial aid. The tuition and other costs at a 4-year school is much higher than that of a CC, so financial aid often isn’t even enough to cover those costs, let alone living expenses. </p>
<p>As you said, your financial aid for next year will be based on this year’s income, so you probably won’t see any increase in aid for quite some time if you leave your job. At my school, the student (or parent() must be unemployed for at least six months before they will even consider any adjustment to financial aid. </p>
<p>Health insurance is an important consideration. You’d be eligible for COBRA, but that can be very expensive. Many states offer coverage for uninsured kids, but at least in my state those plans leave a lot to be desired, and many doctors/hospitals don’t accept them. </p>
<p>Hopefully, others here can share some good advice. Meanwhile, I applaud you for juggling school, work and raising a child as a single parent.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback - definitely the same concerns I had. Long story short, I ultimately intend to end up in med school, and my chances of getting accepted with a BS from an online university, regardless of it’s reputation, are very low - after researching all my options, I had to toss that one out the window.</p>
<p>I had planned to finish my degree and go to OCS and fulfill a 4 to 6-year commitment in order to pay for med school (or have the Navy put me through their med school). I can go to OCS over the summer so long as I’m enrolled full-time, and I’ll even get help to finish my BS that way, but I can’t enroll full-time and work, at least not with this job. If I could hack it for a semester and then head to OCS and get extra aid and a reserve paycheck (and benefits) the following semester, that might be doable. I need to call my recruiter again, I supppose.</p>
<p>Even my boss is encouraging me to quit because he knows how much faster I can get it finished that way - I’m already a junior, I could knock this out in under 2 years if I took a full courseload. I guess I’m also of the mindset that I shouldn’t have to sacrifice my dream degree/career/school just because they haven’t made more opportunities available for non-traditional students. I fully intend to petition the dean and department head to look at letting me pilot a program geared towards the working/older student, but I can’t do that as a new transfer, I need to put in some time and prove myself before I can expect to be taken seriously. </p>
<p>It’s all very frustrating and time consuming to sort through, so at the very least, thanks for letting me vent. :)</p>
<p>I totally understand. And just to clarify - I wasn’t talking about one of those shady online “schools” that are nothing more than diploma mills. There are legit colleges like Penn State, NYU, etc. that offer degree programs that are partially or even totally online - and your diploma is the same as any other student at the college. </p>
<p>However, if you are working towards med school, you’ll probably need a lot of science courses with labs, so online courses may not be practical. </p>
<p>Is your company planning any layoffs? If so, it would be better for you to volunteer for a layoff, because then you’d be able to collect unemployment.</p>
<p>Haha that’s a good question. We had layoffs earlier this year, but many of us feel more are in the works because we’re not winning any new business. At this point, I’d be thrilled to be laid off (but for the lack of health insurance) - I wouldn’t have to sorry about this as much.</p>
<p>And I knew you didn’t necessarily mean a shady online program. 
I wish it was something that would work with my career and post-graduate education goals, but it just doesn’t seem feasible from all of the research I’ve done thus far. It really is a shame, so many schools that are struggling financially could make a ton of money if they just opened up more of their programs to non-traditional students like me.</p>
<p>Bump - no one else has experience in this situation?</p>
<p>I’m dealing with a similar situation. Returning to school full-time, my husband and I are unable to find jobs at all, anywhere. We’re living on unemployment and Financial Aid and its honestly ‘Holy Struggle Batman!’ Am applying to a top LAC to transfer and wondering how to make it all work.</p>
<p>Add to the fact that the local In-State College is not at all my cup of tea at ALL and there’s only two alternative State Colleges, neither of which are local and are not in inexpensive areas to live in.</p>