I am 31, and it's only an Associate's degree, but will be one step farther in the right direction. I am undecided as to when I am going to begin pursuing a Bachelor's degree. I am unable to travel to any of the nearest 4 yr schools (both are aroumd 1.5 hrs away, but one of them - Athens State University - oldest college in AL (which is cool), offers a 100% online Bachelor's in Management and I'll probably minor in Operations Management.
Beginning at Athens State in January only 3 weeks after graduating from NACC seems stressful. A lot of things to get in order in a short time, especially around the holidays. I may take spring and summer off and begin next Fall, but at the same time that is just prolonging finishing that degree as well. Work pays for most of my school, well all of it currently, but 4 yr school costs, as you know, are much higher. Which means, coming out of this coming Fall's final semester at NACC, I will have a little over $1k outstanding awaiting reimbursement by the time I would need to also have roughly $3,400 to throw down on the first 3 classes at Athens beginning in January, thus meaning I will have around $4,400 outstanding fees I have paid while waiting on the previous $1k reimbursement, which could take up to a month or two. I have to pass classes with a C or better, submit proper documentation, then once approved, I receive reimbursement on my paycheck.
Fast forward to the following fall semester at Athens...lets assume I'm out another $3k or so for that semester, then once done I have to start the following spring for another $3k-ish before receiving reimbursement for the previous semester, that will be over $6k outstanding until I receive the previous $3k reimbursement. Shitload of money (for me) to be out of pocket at once.
Also say I get overloaded with hard classes and have to drop one, $1k flushed down the shitter that I do not get reimbursed for. I've only had to drop 2 classes at NACC for various circumstances, losing just over $400 each time. 3 hrs of online course tuition at Athens State is $927 + book costs.
Just a semi-big financial undertaking. I'm sure I can make it happen, just stressful. Oh and work only pays a max of $5,250 per year toward tuition and books. So I'm hoping to get Athens' $1000 annual merit scholarship too (if available in their budget), and end up only being out of pocket for less than $1k each year after reimbursement (if everything goes smooth without hiccups).
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. I thought college was hard while I was there and surrounded by extracurricular activities, but it was a ton harder with a newborn and a full time job. I guess I am trying to say that if you're in the mindset of school, stick with it and finish before you remember what it was like to not have school.
