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Published: November 1, 2007
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EmailWith a husband, two young children and a part-time night job at 7-Eleven, Sarah Brogan sums up her prime homework opportunity in one word: Naptime. While 15-month-old Wyatt snoozes and 4-year-old Mackenzie rests or watches a movie, Brogan tackles online assignments for courses she’s taking toward a nursing degree from Thomas Nelson Community College in Hampton. Brogan has about 90 minutes at a time – if all goes smoothly. More than once, Wyatt has crawled into the small study area she has carved out amidst toys in her sunroom and accidentally switched off her computer. “I have to balance it all,” said the 25-year-old York County mother. “I’ll work hard during naptime, but as soon as that’s over I’m all about the kids. We go outside with chalk or head to soccer practice. I get tired, but school is something I have that’s my own. It works for me.”
Brogan is in good company. Contrary to what many people think, college isn’t only for the young, just-out-of-high-school set; in fact, 40 to 50 percent of students at American universities are 25 or older, according to the U.S. Department of Education. That’s up from 28 percent in 1970. Local colleges have plenty so-called “non-traditional” students, driven by a desire to advance their careers or meet personal goals. Not surprisingly, many of them have children. While schools don’t keep statistics on the number of parents enrolled in classes, there are enough that some campuses now offer childcare locator services and a few plan to build daycare areas into new construction projects. Online, night and weekend classes and part-time enrollment programs are booming. Many schools also offer advisors and support groups specifically for older students.
“Parents mostly have the perception that they’ll be out of place in the classroom, but generally they will find others just like them,” said Mike Summers, vice president for academic and student affairs at Tidewater Community College, which has four campuses in Hampton Roads. “If they can get over that fear, they can find all of the options available to them.” That doesn’t mean going to school and raising kids at the same time is easy. The three biggest hurdles, by all accounts: childcare, finances and time. “You have to understand that you may have to sacrifice time for yourself or with your kids,” said Tiffany Mann of Newport News, a 24-year-old single mother of two who is studying social science at TNCC. “But I look at it that you’re really benefitting your kids in the long run.”
Plenty of company
Parents go back to school at all points in the educational process, from entering as first-time freshman to adding advanced degrees. Many have had college interrupted in the past by personal or financial circumstances and have spent time in the workforce. Students over 25 are the fastest-growing demographic in higher education, national statistics show. In September, President Bush signed an order to strengthen adult education options, a nod to the growing number of jobs that require more than a high school diploma.
Many local schools have a significant number of older students. At Tidewater Community College, or TCC, 36 percent of students are ages 18 to 21, 32 percent are 22 to 29, 10 percent are 30 to 34 and 22 percent are 35 and older (meaning close to two-thirds are above the traditional college age). At Old Dominion University in Norfolk, 28 percent of students are older than 25. “We have students with all ages of children, from young kids to teenagers to adults,” said Julie Dodd, director of ODU’s Women’s Center. “Many times, they are some of the best students – they have lots of life perspectives and are very intentional in their goals.”
Even so, going back to school can be a daunting idea. Cathleen Moye of Virginia Beach wondered if she could get back into the academic groove when she enrolled in her first class at ODU about four years ago. Moye had finished two years at East Carolina University before getting married moving with her husband, who is in the Navy. Working as a bank teller, Moye dreamed of becoming an auditor or an accountant for the Internal Revenue Service. She started toward her college degree by signing up for a single precalculus course when her two children – Christopher, now 14, and Erika, 12 – were in elementary school. “I was nervous because I wanted to be sure I was there to help them with their homework, go to the PTA meetings and be in their classrooms,” she said. “I didn’t want to miss their school experiences. But I found it was pretty easy. Those study habits – they come back.” At 37, Moye is now a senior accounting major. She schedules classes so she doesn’t have school every day; this semester, she goes two days a week plus Friday mornings. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, her 9:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. schedule gets her home soon after Christopher is out of high school and before Erika is done with middle school. Moye does most of her homework when her kids are in school on Mondays and Wednesdays or after their bedtime. “It can be hard not to be able to start my work right after classes,” she said. “I might forget some of what we’ve done. But I like the idea of showing my kids you can work hard and finish school.”
Support for student-parents
Success requires a class schedule that fits around family time. Sarah Brogan has taken no more than three classes a semester since her first child was born. This fall, her microbiology and ethics courses are all online. “I’m not willing to give up family time to finish school earlier,” said Brogan, who hopes to wrap up a nursing degree by spring 2009. “School is important to me, but it will always be there. Mackenzie’s soccer practices and helping Wyatt learn to walk won’t be.”
Colleges have responded to that demand for flexibility with increased choice in course times and locations (many have satellite centers throughout the region). TCC now offers more than 1,000 course sections online each year and has an on-call advisor to answer email from students who don’t have time to drive to campus. For parents who can’t start a regular 16-week semester in August or January, there are 8-week courses and “dynamic courses” of different lengths throughout the semester. Those let parents wait to begin their studies until their children are back in school after summer or winter breaks. Like TCC, TNCC has a variety of class times and is moving advising, registration and other services online, said Beverly Walker-Griffea, vice president for student affairs. The college also is expanding its weekend course offerings, especially at its new Southeast Higher Education Center in Newport News. “We want to meet our students where they are in their lives,” Walker-Griffea said.
Even more traditional four-year schools offer a few options for parents. The College of William and Mary has a Flexible Degree Track (Flex Track) program that admits up to 20 part-time students a year. Applicants must live in the Williamsburg area, meet regular admission standards and show a “compelling reason” why they can’t be full-time students, spokeswoman Erin Zagursky said. The college also works closely with local community colleges to bring in transfer students, Zagursky added. “If you need to take some courses online or on weekends, you can take them at a community college before coming here,” she said.
Childcare often is the biggest question mark. Mann, a single mother with a full-time job, got lucky: her grandmother lives with her five days a week to care for Ariah, 6, and Taylor, 8 months. “Otherwise, I really don’t know what I’d do,” Mann said. When TCC builds four new student centers over the next five years, childcare will be part of the layout. “It’s a long time coming,” Summers said. “The demand is huge.” TNCC also is considering adding day care at two of its satellite centers, Walker-Griffea said.While ODU’s childcare center typically is too full to take students’ kids, the school offers a Web-based locator service that lists in-home day care providers. “They can punch in their zip codes and find people near their home, campus or job,” Dodd said.
Advice for students
The first year back at school can be the trickiest, administrators and students say. Tapping into all the resources on campus early on can make a big difference. The best way to find them is by going to orientation programs, taking campus tours, stopping by a women’s or counseling center and asking about advisors who specialize in guiding non-traditional students.
Academic advisors can make sure adult students take only classes they need, health center counselors can help with stress management and financial aid experts can help line up grants. Sarah Brogan recently earned a federal grant that covers all but the cost of books, sparing her another student loan.
Starting slow also can be a good idea. “I often recommend just one or two classes for returning part-time students, just to get their feet wet,” Dodd said. Added Summers: “Looking at a list of all the classes you need can be daunting, but if you do it one at a time it will add up before you know it.”
Dave Henderson of Norfolk, a 40-year-old father, agrees. An engineering major at TCC and dad to two daughters, ages 7 and 9, Henderson hopes to transfer to the University of California at Berkeley and pursue a computer science degree. “I have come to realize that there is a limit to the number of credits I can handle, and I wish that I had been aware of that earlier,” he said. “I have seen too many students burn out from trying to rush through a degree.” Henderson, who is active in TCC’s engineering club, also recommends joining student groups if possible. Some schools have organizations specifically for students over 25, including “Prime Tribe” at William and Mary and the Delta Sigma Lambda sorority at ODU. “It definitely has helped me feel more a part of the campus,” said Moye, a sorority member.
As for homework, many parents say they’ve learned to take advantage of time spent waiting in carpool lines and for appointments. Henderson has found he can get his work done much faster at school rather than try to do it once he’s home. Support from family and friends is crucial, added Tara Davis of Norfolk, a mother of eight kids ages 6 to 20. Davis is working toward an associate’s degree in social services at TCC while her husband pursues a degree in administration of justice. After dinner, parents and kids often study together. Davis’ older children help their younger siblings with homework and take care of chores including grocery shopping, laundry, dishwashing and ironing. “This has aided me with keeping balance in my family and school life,” Davis said.
And despite the inevitable rough patches, parents in school say they stay focused on the long-term reward of earning a degree. Mann, who hopes to transfer to ODU for a bachelor’s degree in human services, believes she’s giving her children valuable life lessons, too. “My oldest daughter will say, ‘Me and Mommy have to get up early and go to school,’” Mann said. “It pushes her. She’s only in first grade and already she says she wants to go to college like her mom. To me, that is incredibly rewarding.”
