Online Colleges Benefit Single Mothers

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Online college for single moms can bring many benefits. Single mothers enrolled in online college classes and online degree programs might even find that the experience ultimately boosts their health and the health of their children.

Higher education, according to a report from the ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education, has long been linked to the good health of graduates and their offspring. And for single moms, college classes taken online can be more easily accessible with an array of scholarships, grants and other financial aid programs to help pay for them.

Online college classes and online degree programs don’t have to interfere with a single mothers’ job or with raising the children. For single moms, college classes taken online can be accomplished when the children are at school, asleep,  or participating in extracurricular activities. Online college for single moms also means avoiding expenses involved with hiring babysitters, maintaining the car and filling it with gas, or paying for public transportation.

Women have long outnumbered men in college, and many of these women also have work and family responsibilities. For single moms, online college can help expand horizons and provide interaction with other adults. Some online college and online degree programs are said to allow single mothers and others to accomplish this via computer and interactive communities.

For single moms, college courses taken online now can also equate to an improved quality of life in the near future, studies suggest.

A report from the Institute for Higher Education Policy cites that more highly educated women are better consumers with greater savings. These women reportedly enjoy more hobbies, leisure activities and quality time with their children, helping to prepare their children for a better future.

Single mothers and others who complete online college and obtain an online degree might also find that they’re more easily able to relinquish “control” and that they’re more open-minded, cultured, rational and consistent, a Carnegie Foundation Report suggests.

Ultimately, a single mom’s college degree should open the door to a greater number of jobs, including jobs that pay better and last longer. Most adolescents in low-income families live with single mothers and fathers and with parents who don’t have college degrees, according to the National Center for Children in Poverty. 

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics from 2007 show that people with bachelor degrees earned a median $51,324 per year, which was about $20,000 more than their non-degree holding high school graduate counterparts.

For some single moms, college classes taken online can be more affordable with the help of grants, fellowships, scholarships, loans and work study programs. In addition to general college assistance programs for those who financially qualify, there are tuition assistance programs available exclusively to single mothers. Single mother grants are for moms in need of tuition assistance can look toward non-profit organizations, civic groups, federal and state governments and colleges, universities and trade schools.

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