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Find a Way to Go Back For the Missing Degree
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Edited questions from Career Tracks, Mary Ellen Slayter's online discussion about workplace issues. Her guest was Carole Sargent, author of "Traditional Degrees for Nontraditional Students."
Washington: I have a good friend who never finished college. She is extremely bright, and her hard work has paid off. She has been promoted and given a title that normally requires a bachelor's degree. But her promotion may not travel with her if she switches firms. I am thrilled that her firm recognizes her worth, but I also worry. Any advice on suggesting that she finish her degree?
Sargent: Rare is the boss who can recognize talent without also recognizing the academic achievement side of the r¿sum¿. Some bosses can, and clearly she has benefited from this, but most people make distinctions by paying attention to education. So you're right, she should strongly consider finishing now.
If she's concerned about money, she can try getting a job on a university campus that offers free tuition as a work benefit. Even if it doesn't pay as well as some other jobs, the tuition money (it usually kicks in after one year of employment) makes up for it. Also, it eliminates the killer home-work-school commute by combining work and school in one place.
Slayter: Speaking of money, how else do people pay for school when they return as grown-ups, with kids, mortgages and certain expectations about their standard of living?
Sargent: There are other methods, such as earning top grades on a part-time basis and then transferring to full time after winning an award, changing your lifestyle (college towns have whole economies built around broke students), taking advantage of work benefits (many people do not) and more. It is scary to take on debt for education. There are also weird student loans now that aren't as friendly. Become a student loan expert (read books, talk to student loan office employees) before you get one.
Another note about standard of living. In a true college town, everyone's broke. It's chic. Everyone goes to the same thrift shops.
