Going back to school while working full time

[Asics]

Hey all,

As the title reads I am interested in returning to school (college). Originally I went to a community college in my hometown right after I graduated high school but I just couldn't get my head in to it yet. It wasn't that I couldn't do the work ("A" in English 101 but failed Math 64? 68? Pre-algebra. I am admittedly very behind) but couldn't focus on the subjects I obviously needed to focus on and therefore was not ready for college. Being three years older, having been an employee in some form of customer service, and finally (maybe, hopefully) figuring out what I'd like to do for my career has made me realize just how important post high school education really is.

Currently I work full time at a hotel as a night auditor. I've been with my company for two years this March. Working in this industry has left an impression on me to the point where hospitality is what I'd like to end up doing. I enjoy the business side of hotels and F&B. Working as an auditor has given me some basic insight to managing a hotels employees, accounting and day to day operations. When I first wanted to resume my education I wanted to go into hospitality management. I still want to do this however but I want to have a more broad form education in business with an emphasis on hospitality management, if that makes sense.

Put simply I want to get a degree in business. Is this a good or bad idea? What should I expect?

When I took classes at my original community college I was accepted for financial aid. Although I failed a class during my original quarter of schooling I reapplied the next year was accepted but with the stipulation that I maintain a 3.0. I didn't return to school at this point because I had to relocate for my job. Is financial aid an option at this point? I am now in Seattle, Washington. Unfortunately at this point in my life I need to keep my full time job but I do not have children. Though I work 40 hours a week it is during the graveyard shift and I often do have downtime during the night. Is online school an option? How many classes could I take online, if at all possible a full schedule online would be the best possible scenario.

I feel that I have the will to advance in my career but no tools to do so with yet. Any sort of advice is strongly appreciated! In addition I plan to get into contact with local community college advisers to see what they think.

[ultimar235]

It's not worth it imo. Business degree would be very broad. What you need is to find out what kind of frameworks your business uses and get qualifications in those. For example the place I work for utilises ITIL and PRINCE2 frameworks. If I got qualifications in those and went to look for a job in IT related business then employers would be impressed way more than if I had a business degree. Drawback is it'll cost you unless your company is willing to pay which is something you'd have to convince them to do.

A lot of people are successful and never went to uni.

[someotherguy]

We had a guy working in my company as a computer programmer.
He had a wife, and just had a baby before he enrolled into NYU for MBA.
During the two years of MBA, he kept working full time, sometimes had to work on Saturdays too.

However to help, his wife lived with her mom with the baby for about a year or so.

But he basically went to school full time and went to work full time + overtime. At NYU for MBA.

So I would suggest doing something similar. Give up everything besides college + work until you finish your college.

You might not be able to do this full time, but setting a reasonable target for yourself and giving up on all distractions that you can, is something everyone can do.

I think it will pay off very well for you in salary increase once you finish and switch to that sort of job.

Good luck.

[Asics]

But the thing is I want the education to be broad, at least to an extent. The idea of going to a technical school has crossed my mind but at the same time being pigeonholed in to a career I do not want to be in quite honestly terrifies me. That being said I understand paying money and time to get an education to begin with is a great risk in of itself but one with exit strategies.

Thank you for the input though. My father went to A&P school (aircraft maintenance) and said when he received his certifications it was fairly easy finding a job. That was many years ago but the idea is the same.