The Graduate School Express

After most parents put their kids to bed, they might watch  a bit of television, tidy up the dinner dishes, or put away the laundry. After tucking in their six-year-old son, Geoff and Sarah Grudzinski hit the textbooks.

As Geoff completes a master’s degree in ministry leadership at Crown College in St. Bonifacius, Sarah is completing her undergraduate work at Northwestern College in St. Paul, but she plans to take only a few months off before going back to school for a graduate degree. It should be a busy break—their next child is due around May 8, graduation day for both parents.

Although such a full family and education schedule requires some juggling, Geoff says that the flexible programs at both colleges have helped keep from feeling overwhelmed. “It’s been the goal for both of us, since we were little, to become Ph.Ds,” he says. “To do that and still have a family used to require a lot of sacrifices, but we feel that with night and weekend classes, and online resources, we don’t have to give up family time.”

The Grudzinskis are part of a growing segment in the local academic scene—working adults with jam-packed family, work, and social obligations who are augmenting their undergraduate degrees with graduate-level programs.

In an era of convenience—movies can arrive in your mailbox, groceries can be ordered online, and singles can arrange romantic dates with a few clicks of a mouse—universities and colleges are keeping pace with the booming number of students who want education to be just as convenient and don’t want to quit their jobs in order to go to school. To adapt to the needs of these students, area schools are adding flexibility into their programs, tweaking financial offerings, and even building kid-friendly study rooms.

Flexible Programs For Busy Lives
For the past decade, there has been a decided shift in graduate programs around the country, says Randy Nelson, director of graduate studies at Northwestern College. In the past, an undergraduate degree used to be sufficient to climb the corporate ladder, but since many people now arrive at a company with a bachelor’s degree, having that level of education may not set a candidate apart for promotions anymore. “Now, graduate degrees are the big thing,” Nelson says. “They’re the new requirement if you want to get into upper management.”

Business programs, particularly MBAs, have always been popular, but there’s been increasing interest in graduate degrees in numerous fields, including healthcare, journalism, and education. College educators have noticed a boom in enrollment by women older than thirty, who are taking advantage of more flexibility in program schedules and help from the schools themselves in finding child-care.

But whether students are pursuing degrees to advance their careers or simply want to further their education in a specific field, many don’t have the time or desire to quit work and go to school full-time. “These adult learners have different needs than traditional graduate students,” Nelson says. “They have families and jobs, and they know graduate school is a huge commitment, but they want to make it work with what’s already in their lives.”

Recognizing that part-time grad students have unique needs, many colleges and universities have either created new programs or developed different hours and curriculum structures within existing courses of study. Northwestern College has two degrees—a master of organizational leadership and a master of arts in theological studies—and plans to offer additional graduate programs in the near future. To cater to adult learners, the college has created a cohort model, in which a group of students complete an entire program together.

“Misery loves company,” Nelson jokes. “But really, this model works great because students are going through the same things, like how to find child-care and how to balance studying with work.”

Most schools offer evening and weekend classes to fit around work schedules. The length of time it takes to complete a graduate degree is now a decision often left to the student, says Mary Rockcastle, dean of the graduate school of liberal studies at Hamline University in St. Paul. “We build in leeway for people who need to step out for a semester or longer, which may occur for family reasons or job changes,” she says. “Some people want to complete their degree in three years, whereas others might stretch it out to seven years.”

Recognizing that many of its graduate students are trying to advance their careers through education, but might not have the same level of networking opportunities as full-time students, Hamline offers access to its alumni databases, as well as gives students access to job listings and resume writing workshops.

To assist students with children, the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul has developed a program it calls Access in Success that provides resources specifically for parents. Licensed social workers are on staff to answer questions about daycare or give advice about handling study-related stress. The college has also created a number of child-friendly study rooms, which are essentially large spaces partially divided into two areas—on one side, students can read about organizational leadership and healthcare issues, while on the other side of the room their children play with college-supplied toys.

For all students, St. Catherine has tutors available in the evenings and weekends, and like most schools, has extended hours for its library and bookstore. Similar to Hamline and other schools, St. Catherine doesn’t penalize a student for dropping out of the program for an extended time if they need to attend to family or work matters.

“It’s all about flexibility,” says Greg Steenson, St. Catherine’s director of non-traditional admissions. “Students have a lot going on at work and with their schedules. Some may choose to take a lighter credit load, or do more distance learning. We’re incorporating more flexible elements into our programs all the time.”

Many colleges and universities are providing the same level of rigorous academics for part-time students as they would full-time students, but are configuring courses to integrate with students’ work life. For example, at Argosy University, the MBA classes come with a set of program competencies—basically, educational goals in areas like management that can be applied immediately at a student’s workplace.

With so many graduate programs in the market, pricing has become competitive, Rockcastle says, which is good news for potential students. “All of the research across higher education is that these part-time programs are steadily growing,” she says. “Universities are thinking strategically about how to make their programs distinctive and appealing, leading to competitive pricing, more services like writing help and career development, and more convenience in general.”

New Challenges
New programs that cater to adult students can be invaluable for helping learners adjust their schedules and pursue degrees, but putting time, energy, and money into such a fresh educational goal can be daunting, too.

Although classes are conveniently scheduled, the amount of homework takes major adjustments, says Jason Anderson, who attends Northwestern College and is also a speaking pastor at Eagle Brook Church. Married with three children, Anderson learned early in his studies that he would have to make some changes in order to be a student.

“I can’t be less of a husband or less of a father, but something had to be given up to do this,” he says, adding that his masters-level work in organizational leadership requires between twelve and fifteen hours per week in addition to class time. Anderson first gave up his beloved golf outings, and then cut down on attending family functions. Vacations, too, have been put off for the next year-and-a-half.

“A big part of going to grad school is just getting your head right,” he says. “If you don’t come into this with a realization about your priorities, you’re going to be in trouble. I knew I couldn’t do it all, so I sat down with my family and talked about how to balance work and school and family time.”

The Grudzinskis believe that balancing family time is actually easier for them since both are students. They can study together and each understands deeply the issues that come with meeting academic goals. “If you don’t have the support of your family, it’s going to be very difficult to do a grad program,” Geoff says. “The whole family has to be clear on the schedule and the demands of school.”

Even for students who aren’t married and don’t have children, pursuing a new degree requires a fresh level of dedication. Hamline’s media relations director, JacQueline Getty, decided to enroll in the university’s program in children’s literature with the hope of publishing her own children’s book one day. Because she’s single, there are no family obligations to juggle, but extensive volunteerism and a hectic social life can still make her new educational direction feel overwhelming.

“I’ve been trying to work around my schedule, but my personal life is booked so full, and I just agreed to be a mentor,” she says. “So, some adjustments will have to be made. But I’m glad to have this kind of problem because to pursue this degree is very exciting.”

Online Options
Although some degree programs have been around for years—or, in the case of the Carlson School of Management, for decades—many colleges and universities are using student feedback to continually tweak workloads, services, and schedules to make sure that education is working well with other student obligations.

A major trend is in combining class work with online components like digital bulletin boards and online courses. Many universities have digitized their library collections, and students can surf through books, journals, and academic papers from home. It’s likely that more online resources will be integrated into coursework, Nelson says.

“The big move today is toward a hybrid model,” he says. “It’s still important to have some interaction with other students and professors in person, but being able to submit assignments online, for example, gives them more freedom.”

Many students might think that they’ll enjoy taking more distance learning, but end up craving in-person classes, says Dave Lange, program chair for the College of Education and Human Development at Argosy University.

“We have classes in a blended format,” he says. “Students get the benefit of both worlds. They can communicate through online chat rooms, but also meet each other in person. This kind of model is the wave of the future.”

In general, it’s likely that the part-time graduate studies will keep booming, says Kathryn Carlson, assistant dean of the part-time and executive MBA programs at the Carlson School of Management. The drive toward this type of education isn’t just for career boosts, she notes, but also gives students fresh perspective on daily life, and that can be compelling.

“To some extent, your career takes on greater value when you [work and go to school] simultaneously, because you can take what you learned and apply it immediately,” she says. “You meet new people and get new ideas, and that kind of excitement then extends into every other part of your life, from work to family.”