How to go back to school as a working parent

When Monique LaBrasseur, 27, of St. Paul had her son, she knew her job as a certified nursing assistant wouldn’t provide enough money to support her family.

So when her employer fired her for missing too many workdays to care for her sick child, she realized it was actually an opportunity to grow her future earnings.

“I decided to find a career, not just a job. … I decided if I’m going to build a career, I have to go back to school,” LaBrasseur said.

Come August, LaBrasseur will graduate from St. Paul College with an associate’s degree and will have transferred to a four-year institution as she continues her studies to become a therapist. And she accomplished it all without incurring any debt.

One in five undergraduate students are raising children, often working full time while pursuing their education and caring for their family, per the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. There is financial incentive for returning to school, as people who obtain bachelor’s and graduate degrees usually see $500 more in weekly earnings, on average, than those with only a high school diploma, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.

But there are many challenges for parents looking to higher education in hopes of upping their earning potential, including finding the right school, affording child care and maintaining a work schedule. Average in-state tuition for public Minnesota colleges is $11,481, according to CollegeTuitionCompare, which compiles up-to-date college tuition costs by state. Costs of living off campus adds $14,935 to that amount (or $13,873, if the student lives on campus).

Here are tips and resources for working parents who want to go back to school:

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is a good first step for any postsecondary student.

It uses a student and their family’s financial information to determine eligibility for federal funding, opening Oct. 1 for the following academic year. FAFSA applicants received an average of $5,675 in federal grants alone for the current academic year, Saving for College reports. Schools distribute FAFSA funding on a first-come, first-serve basis, with many also requiring the application as a prerequisite for other scholarships. There are several guides that explain the application process.

All student parents should visit their prospective schools’ financial aid websites or contact the financial aid office to learn more about scholarships and other means of saving on tuition.

“The financial aid office walked me through [the FAFSA and financial aid application] step by step, so it was just a really, really smooth process,” LaBrasseur said. “It took maybe less than 30 minutes to apply, and I knew within the same week what my financial aid was going to be, and I was able to register for classes.”

University of Minnesota alumni Richard Oknick, 44, of Minneapolis is a father of two and earned his degree during the pandemic. Once he graduated, he started a position as an operations and logistics director.

“There are a lot of great people that want to help you find these [financial aid] resources that are available to you, so simply ask about them,” Oknick said.

Minnesota’s Office of Higher Education has a webpage dedicated to Student Parent Campus-Based Resources that lists many other student parent-exclusive grants and scholarships across institutions statewide, where most of the scholarships are around $1,000 per year. The webpage also includes a comprehensive list of campuses that offer student parents on-site child care, resource centers, housing, social clubs or additional federal funding.

On-campus jobs and paid internships would allow student parents to pursue education while continuing to receive a paycheck.

Those who qualify for the Federal Work-Study program can receive federal funding in the form of hourly wages while working as student employees at their school. Jobs range from being a library assistant to a communications writer to swiping ID cards at the dining hall. These opportunities are part time and often pay minimum wage.

Students who need to work full time, like LaBrasseur, must find work and class schedules that fit together.

“Being a home health aide gives me opportunities to study sometimes. If the client is napping or resting, I can sit down and study,” LaBrasseur said. “Working in that field has been a big help in navigating [college]. If I was working at a nursing home with no breaks, it would be a lot different.”

Many employers also offer employees tuition reimbursement programs, to help workers pursue a higher degree while still working at the company. For example, Minnesota’s Department of Transportation and Hennepin County offer tuition reimbursement of up to 75% or $5,250, respectively.

Best Colleges has a list of 50 corporate employers that also offer tuition reimbursement ranging from Pizza Hut to Verizon to Home Depot. There is some tax incentive for employers to offer this, as up to $5,250 of education assistance per employee is tax deductible.

Contact your workplace’s human resources department to find out if your employer offers tuition reimbursement.

According to Child Care Aware of Minnesota, weekly rates for child care range from $176 to $440 in the Twin Cities metro, depending on the child’s age, with child care centers being more expensive than family child care.

Rates like those are unaffordable for many working families, per the Center for American Progress, especially those without family, community or financial support.

In addition to day care during the week while she’s at school, LaBrasseur relies on her grandparents to look after her 3-year-old son on weekends, which she spends at her job.

For Oknick, child care during the early stages of the pandemic proved too tricky.

“In order to make things make financial sense in our household, we pulled our children out of day care, and I established a ‘daddy school’ curriculum in our house so that we could continue to support their learning and development while I was pursuing a parallel path in my life,” he said. “… Both myself and my children become students at the same time."

Parent Aware, Minnesota’s voluntary quality rating and improvement system for child care options in the state, offers tools and resources to help families find affordable alternatives. They offer screening tools and list several child care tax credits and state grants that help pay for child care, including the Child and Dependent Care Credit and the Federal Earned Income Credit.

The University of Minnesota also offers child care guidance through its Student Parent Health Center, including near-campus options like the Child Development Laboratory School and the YMCA Early Childhood Learning Center. Check with your institution to see what’s available.

Alternatively, any parent can call 888-291-9811, Child Care Aware of Minnesota’s toll-free hotline, which connects them with a local parent education specialist who will help them find the child care program that works best for them.

Going back to school doesn’t have to mean pursuing a four-year or advanced degree. Some lucrative careers require less schooling through associate’s degrees or professional certifications.

St. Paul College’s Dean of Career and Technical Education V.A. Hayman Barber sees firsthand how impactful trade programs can be.

“The trades make the world go round. It’s hard for me to hear people say, ‘Trades is my plan B,’ or, ‘I didn’t go to college — I went to trade school.’ Trade programs can be accredited college programs. Trades need to be a plan A for more people,” Barber said. “… The amount of teamwork, problem solving, math and theory that I see [in trades classes] is really remarkable."

Trade programs train professionals like carpenters, welders, pipefitters, truck technicians and automotive service technicians, often within one to two years. Resident tuition for Minnesota technical colleges is under $6,000, on average, which is on par with community college tuition but two to four times cheaper than university tuition, per the Minnesota Office of Higher Education. There are also many ways to establish a career in the construction trades without incurring debt.

Many employers hire current trade students part time, and graduates often join unions, which can increase long-term job security.

Prospective student parents should talk to enrollment advisers at their schools of interest to understand whether a trade program could be a better fit for them than a traditional degree.

Read up on your institution and area of study to make sure you’re setting yourself up for success.

For example, programs that offer night and online classes as well as tutoring services allow student parents more time with their kids and flexibility with work. A higher average student age indicates a school could have more student parents, which might make it easier to make connections. A low teacher-to-student ratio translates to smaller class sizes, which could offer student parents more opportunities to ask questions and talk to their professors about personal circumstances.

Other factors to consider: commuting distance and cost, on-site child care options, health services, student support services, dining options, student housing, academic reputation and parenting clubs or other relevant extracurriculars.

The University of Minnesota’s Student Parent Help Center is the longest-standing student parent program in the nation and has assisted hundreds of student parents through their college degrees. The center offers access to a community space with a computer lab, lounge, kitchenette and child-friendly play area.

Student parents can join the center by sitting for a brief virtual or in-person conversational interview, where staff screen them for several grants. One such grant is the state’s Postsecondary Child Care Grant, which offers up to $6,500 per eligible child per academic year.

Student parent centers also provide a sense of community, an essential factor to ensuring a smooth educational journey.

“It is an amazing experience for kids to be part of that world where mom and dad go every day,” said Susan Warfield, program director. “Some of our students get so tied in with our program that they will keep in touch for years after graduation.”

Hussein Abulamzi is a freelance writer based in St. Paul. His email is husseinabulamzi@gmail.com.