Any single/both parents are students households?

[mamakah]

Hi everyone! I have recently decided to go back to school for a degree. My husband was excited and supportive about it and still is! I'm currently SAH and he WOH. His job is starting to feel not so secure, and it seems the industry in general that he works in might be tanking and won't provide for us much longer.
This morning I suggested to him that maybe he should go back to school too. If we both get degrees maybe we can each find jobs that are a little more stablity and good pay with benefits.
Obviously, this would be a complete life change for us if he decides to go to school also.
I'm wondering if you can tell me how you work out being a student when your partner is also a student, or being a single parent student. We are just concerned about money obviously.
How do you survive financially? Student loans?
How do you balance time?

[kavamamakava]

I don't know how I'm doing it but I'm hanging in there. It's very tough financially and I mostly can only study while I'm at school. I have classes every day and arrive as soon as my children are at school and stay until I have to pick my children up from school. I was able to get As at first but now I'm floundering. I do a lot of quick meals at home and when I need more study time I go to bed with the kids at 8:30 and get up at 3 to have some quiet time in the house.
I'm currently working on the pre-med requirements for grad school and the science classes require so much memorization that I need constant study time. It's not like when I did my undergrad in liberal arts where I could mull over ideas and theories in my head and formulate a good paper idea while I was doing other things. I have to basically allow 2 hours of study for every hour of class time and I'm taking 14 hours of class time. It's more of a time commitment than a full time job.
Sometimes I pull out my homework when my kids are doing homework and it motivates them even if I don't get so much done on my own homework.

[pinksprklybarefoot]

We are about to have a two-student household this fall. DH lost his job last Oct, and is ready for a career change.

Originally Posted by kavamamakava

I'm currently working on the pre-med requirements for grad school and the science classes require so much memorization that I need constant study time. It's not like when I did my undergrad in liberal arts where I could mull over ideas and theories in my head and formulate a good paper idea while I was doing other things.

I totally understand this. I am pre-pharmacy, which has the same requirements as pre-med, plus a few extra. It is totally different than a non-science program (my actual major is political science, but I finished that piece of my degree ten years ago). It really is a different frame of mind. I have to study a lot - pretty much every day, for a few hours/day.

Our plan involves some sort of daycare. MN has a daycare grant that is part of your financial aid package, and DH should qualify. Our county also has assistance with daycare for low-income people. We will subsist on student loans and a little odd-job money. Hopefully, next year will be my last year as an undergrad - I am applying to pharmacy school this summer (for fall 2011).

I took 17 credits this semester (all math/science), and studying between classes was crucial. Studying at home just did not work - too many interruptions. I would often leave for school early to study then as well. Our plan is to approach things roughly as if we are both employed full-time - do school/study 8 hrs/day while the kiddos are in daycare, then do home when we are home.

Should be interesting to see how it all works out.

[kavamamakava]

I do use daycare as well but I'm also on public assistance and they only cover daycare for the hours I'm in school. They allow me 6 hours in addition to classroom hours. I only have 1 in daycare and she'll be starting Kindergarten in the Fall.

[AtYourCervices]

After my youngest child was born, I went back to school. Her father decided to go back to school as well. I went to a local community college to finish my Associates to keep costs down. My husband (the baby's father) and I were just dating at the time, and he got into an Ivy League school, so he moved away to work on his degree.

We "split up", so we could focus on school. I got financial aid, being a "single mom". He got student loans. I also received daycare assistance. I got a paid internship to make ends meet. My husband also had a paid internship at the University he was attending.

We saw each other every other weekend. Last year we both finished at our respective schools. He moved home and we got married.

Now I'm working on my B.S. I pay for my classes one at a time. My husband has a lot of student loans left, but he was offered a great paying job in his field and we'll be able to pay off the loans within a few months of him starting the position.

It sucked, only seeing each other every other week for a year and a half, but it's going to be soooo worth it when he starts this new job.

[mamakah]

Wow. Thanks everyone! I'm anticipating it to be very difficult. Did anyone have a hard time getting student loans and financial aid? Anyone live in married student housing?

[Freedom~Mama]

I am a single Mom in school full time. It is very very hard and stressful. I have two little ones that are with me all the time so taking care of them is a full time job in itself and then I have a full load of classes. It is doable if you are very motivated. I think time management is key. Taking time each day to study, do homework etc is so important. I have learned that if I want to go to school all I have time for really is my kids and school. Pretty much no free time anymore. It is worth it though. Since I am a single Mom it is vital that I get an education and a good paying job.

Good luck to you! You can do it!