Single moms often juggle two full-time jobs-work and child-rearing-and many nevertheless struggle economically to survive. It’s difficult enough for some single moms to set aside money for a child’s future education, let alone pursue or complete work toward their own college degrees. But grants, scholarships and other forms of financial aid can help offset the costs for single moms who want to go back to school. And online degree programs can offer the flexibility they need to continue carrying out other responsibilities.

Online degrees carry the same weight as those obtained from their “bricks and mortar” counterparts, Ladies Home Journal Editor-in-Chief Sally Lee said in an interview with Today Show Co-host Ann Curry. And many well-known colleges and universities offer online degree programs, as do accredited “virtual” institutions.

With “online college,” single moms can “attend” class on their own schedules, such as when the children are asleep or at school or play. In a column posted online, a specialist in single mother finance strategies at the MindComet marketing agency, recommends that moms create weekly schedules to make family members aware of when classes are held and homework and other studies required.

Enrollment in online college courses costs about the same as it would to physically attend a school – and that, no doubt, that can be pricey. But higher education is no longer reserved for the privileged few, and women for years have outnumbered men in American colleges. Researchers have learned that women’s grades tend to be better than those of men and that more men tend to drop out, according to a February 2010 New York Times article. Older, low-income and black and Hispanic women tend to form the majority of female students, the article reported.

President Barack Obama has been encouraging this demographic group particularly to enroll in college. For single moms, college courses taken online can help avoid the added expense of child care and the time needed to commute back and forth to campus. And those who invest the time, research and money in pursuing higher education can find that the effort pays off high dividends in the future. In 2007, high school graduates without college degrees earned a median $31,408 compared with a median $51,324 earned by those with bachelor degrees and $60,580 by those with doctoral degrees, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Online college for single moms who demonstrate a financial need can be more accessible with the help of grants, loans and work study programs available from non-profit organizations, federal and state governments and the financial aid offices of many institutions. The federal government alone each year provides access to more than $100 billion in higher education loans, work study programs and grants, such as the Pell grant that makes more than $5,000 available to a qualifying applicant.

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