Going Back To School: A Case Study

Although taking online courses may appear to be very time consuming and hard at times, the idea of obtaining your college degree from the convenience of your own home has made it easy for students to continue on with their everyday life. This article has given me a whole new perspective to this online learning experience. Through the group assignments and class participation, online learning generates relationships amongst peers and instructors and allows us as the students to value each individual student’s walks of life under the same subject. This online course will prepare me to become the educator that I need to be when dealing with the different diversities with the students, parents,

Have you ever wondered what the best college learning method for a working adult is online or campus? If working adults took online courses they can do their work anywhere there is an internet connection however they have to ask themselves; would I get the same or better education I could if I was sitting in a classroom? In a classroom setting they would get the interaction with fellow classmates and the professor who all come from different places in their lives. If the working adult had a question or did not understand they would get the results right away, on the other hand, if the student is learning online they have to wait for their professor. The response time for their email to be read and returned will not be there when it’s fresh in the student’s mind. If one is planning on going to college as a working adult, he or she should consider the value of taking the time and attend classes on campus.

Student loans have become a popular topic of discussion due to the tuition increase and individuals taking out tremendous amounts of debt. Participating in higher education systems may have hidden costs that students may not be aware of. Students seeking higher education opportunities may not understand how their college decision should correlate with their possible career of choice. Natalie Lohrenz, a chief development officer and director of counseling at Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Orange County, advises students to not “take out more in student loans than what you expect to make in your first year of work.” Students who do not consider this rule will suffer from debt in the future. Previous college graduates did not have to choose

However, the accomplishment of attaining a college degree has become much more complicated because of many causes, one being student debt and the cost of tuition. Stephanie Owen and Isabell Sawhill states, “With tuitions rising faster than family incomes, the typical college student is now more dependent than in the past on loans, creating serious risks for the individual student…” “Federal student loans now total close to $1 trillion, larger than credit card debt or auto loans and second only to mortgage debt on household balance sheet” (212). The essence of Owen and Sawhill’s argument is that its impossible to attain a college degree without a student debt causing students to look towards a different direction or path from higher education. I agree that student debt can scare students away from furthering their education because the debt may stay alongside of you your whole lives. It is why students are not wanting to take a big risk that may create problems in their

Going back to college was a huge decision for me. I was nervous about what classes were to come and how hard they may be. I had to decide to take the high road and better my future for my family. Juggling work, school, and being a single mom of a two-year old has been tough, but I have enjoyed learning to reach my ultimate goal of graduation.

In my life, I have had to make made many difficult choices, each with their own consequences, but the most significant choice I made occurred three years ago; I decided to leave my home state of Maine, and enroll in Texas A&M University. This decision has had a major impact on my life, and continues to influence my life today for better and for worse. I've grown to be more independent, but as the same time my debt increases every semester.

Coming back to school after being away for 17 years has been one of the most emotionally taxing endeavors I've experienced. My career experience was working in the quality control field. Being apart of the industry was very satisfying until the point in which the 2008 recession hit. Having to go through the uncertainty of being laid off and the frustration of trying to reenter the work force with only a high school diploma brought into focus that I needed to finish the bachelor degree I had started. While attempting to find gainful employment I took the opportunity to begin the process of transferring to a school here in California. I had originally started my degree in Lincoln, Nebraska, but moved out to California with my significant other.

While tuitions rose and salaries static, families no longer see the need to splurge on the “college experience”. Not only are students paying for the expense of academics, but on campus dorms and a meal plan as well. Although Students could choose to commute to cut out the cost of dorms, many colleges are too far away from home to do so. If living on campus and commuting were out of the question, then students may enroll in online schooling to get the education they need

College is many things to many people. For some it is a time for fun and socialization. For others, it is a time for personal and professional development. In my case, (a husband, a father, and a proud member of the U.S. Navy) college represented an opportunity for both personal and professional development. The purpose of this narrative essay is to examine my decision to earn a college degree, specifically examining my three main reasons (higher earning potential, increased marketability, and development of my critical thinking skills) for deciding to enter college in pursuit of a college degree.

Due to the continuing increase of living it’s nearly impossible to be able to live alone. Since the demand of a higher education for better paying jobs is at an all time high trying to juggle a full-time job and returning to college is more than difficult at times. Frank, a full-time employee decided that he’d better himself by returning to college. Never considering that times have changed, he still continued to work and go to school. He stretched himself to the max; he worked late hours and then stayed up doing homework until the early morning only to have to get up and return to class to repeat the long days over. Several weeks passed, he realized that he was never going to be able to get ahead to matter how hard to tried. He was very aware that if he stopped taking classes his chances of being something in the world were even slimmer than if he continued and somehow managed to do both. Frank decided that no matter how tough these next few months were going to be he wasn’t going to let it stop him from meeting his goals.

In recent years, United States universities have experienced a large influx of enrollees over the age of 25, a group referred to as non-traditional students. After America’s relatively recent economic troubles, nearly all citizens feel as though higher learning is an important tool for financial success. Many non-traditional students include first-time students, and more than half of the student body over the age of 25 consists of stay at home mom attending online classes.

Traditional programs offer easily navigable websites for the traditional student, one just out of high school and seeking a dorm life experience, but should work on a strategy to include and entice those returning to school with families and career already in place, including “video testimonials, program previews, transfer credit calculators, plain-English knowledge bases, live chat, and unfiltered social media conversations” (Maslowsky, 2012). University of Phoenix accomplishes this through the interactive website, targeted commercials in adult learner rich audience demographics, and easily navigated web content. Adult learner programs at traditional universities target the traditional college student, and by and large their websites have information for the adult earner ‘tacked on’ to pages and pages of information about the dorm life, meal plans, and campus life. This is a fundamental difference that bears exploration, and likely frustrates potential students and sends them to a system which, like University of Phoenix, offers a more tailored approach for the busy adult learner who wishes to study from home.

Per Reporter: There has been several calls in regards to the children not attending school. The children not attending school has been an ongoing situation. Last school term, Thomas was supposed to repeat the first grade, but Madelyn withdrew him from school (January 2017). At that time, Thomas had already missed 20 days of school. Gwendolyn went out to the family’s home last school term to speak with Madelyn, but was unsuccessful. Gwendolyn spoke with Madelyn on 8/15/17, which Madelyn stated that Jacob was enrolled in school (Lake Cormorant) and Thomas was enrolled in home school (MS Gateway Christian Academy). According to Ms. Wells (ADA Clerk), Jacob has only attended one day of school thus far this school term. On 8/29/17, Ms. Lawanda (secretary)

One of the biggest up and coming trends that is occurring among adults-young and old-is going back to school. In the year 2015 there are more options that one can choose from to attend school. As a new student you can choose to go to a brick and mortar school like Washington University or go to an online school like Ashworth College or Penn Foster. Last year I made the decision to go back to school and decided to attend an online university. I ddint know what to expect during the first year but i did experience wonderful positives while attending Ashworth. Compared to attending a brick and mortar school I have learned that you can receive a flexivle school schedule, affordable tuition, and the convenience of studying at home when you go to school online.

Technology is changing every aspect in our lives, even the way we learn. Online classes are a rapidly growing trend it today’s society. Online classes are a cost-effective substitute for traditional courses and more convenient for many, so more schools and universities are offering this option. Due to the increase in online course enrollment, people are questioning if students truly learn something from online classes because it’s not a traditional learning environment. Online classes are just, if not more, effective as traditional classes because grades have increased and online discussions provide students with the chance to interact through networking while earning a degree for less than what it would cost to enroll at the same university.