Retention, part 2

Let's talk about the three biggest barriers for non-trads. First, edging out money, is the issue of child care.

This is a universal issue. Because of this a lot of campuses have taken notice and are offering child care (usually right on campus) at a competitive rate. Ask your administrators. There's a chance your child could be on campus with you and you could pay by the hour to have them supervised by other students and school employees.

Next, and usually most obvious, is money. This one is sticky. It turns out that it's not usually a shortage of money. Rather, it's an issue of poor money management. The one class we all should've had in high school is personal money management. It's unfortunate that college campuses have traditionally been a feeding frenzy for such organizations as credit card companies. There's usually a significant financial ignorance associated with the average undergraduate. You may fit into that stereotype now, but get it under control. Many schools offer a free money management seminar at least once a semester. These seminars are not a waste of time. After all, they're about one of your favorite topics... your money! Also, and this is something I've taken advantage of, a lot of colleges offer a deferred payment plan. In the past I've broken up my tuition into five or six more manageable payments which has significantly reduced my financial stress.

Lastly, for today anyway, we'll talk about distance. In this era of Craigslist and rideshares, there's a chance you may be able to easily find a regular ride to class. Carpooling is also a way to save money on travel that could be better spent on, for example, child care while you're in class. Another thing you may want to consider is the significantly more drastic option of moving. You can, probably at one of these money management seminars, crunch the numbers and ask yourself if moving your life closer to school is a financially viable decision. Maybe, like me, you'll luck out and actually end up making more money closer to campus. Another, and final, great way around the distance issue is the advent of online courses. Although I wouldn't recommend taking all of your courses online, I wouldn't discourage splitting things up. More and more schools are trying to make this a regular option for many courses. You could significantly reduce your weekly travel time if you, say, took two online courses and one traditional course.

Look, odds are if you can come up with reasonable solutions to these three things, you'll be in great shape. Consider the options I've given you and feel free to comment with some of your own. I hope everyone has a great weekend!