Balancing Work and Grad School: How NU’s Online Format Helps

If you’re a working adult thinking about going to grad school, your first question is likely about how to manage the demands of the coursework alongside family obligations and full-time employment. We understand that this can make the idea of earning an advanced degree feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. With specialized resources just for working students, we can help make balancing life and grad school easier than you might think.  

Flexible online formats are changing the way adult learners approach grad school, creating opportunities for those who would otherwise feel excluded by traditional, on-campus education. In this article, we’ll explain how National University’s online format removes barriers such as scheduling, location, and pacing that might otherwise keep working adults from achieving their educational goals. 

Why Balancing Work and Grad School Matters

According to research published in The Atlantic, almost 76% of graduate students work at least 30 hours per week, and an estimated one in five graduate students helps support a spouse and children. For these adult learners, finding a graduate school-life balance can be a significant challenge. This is especially true of in-person programs that often schedule classes during the standard workday and have demanding course loads, which can feel like a full-time job in and of themselves.

Many adult learners don’t have the luxury of devoting 100% of their attention to grad school the way a full-time student can, especially if they are working and caring for family, as well. Conventional degree programs fail to accommodate the unique needs of these students, which can make pursuing grad school even more challenging. However, with an online format, working adults have more flexibility around scheduling and self-pacing, allowing them to work when and where it’s best for them.

The Core Challenges Working Professionals Face

Each adult learner has unique circumstances in their home and professional lives. However, there are a few core challenges common to those entering grad school, from finding time to study while raising a family to career and financial pressures. 

1. Time Scarcity

Full-time employment can often leave workers feeling like they have little time for anything else. Add in the significant amount of study hours that traditional grad school demands, and many students can feel a major constraint on their resources, including their mental and emotional health. 

For parents, particularly mothers, who are seeking an advanced degree, the rigidity of traditional scheduling can result in a time squeeze that leaves them less time for “paid labor, self-care, and caring for their children.” This inflexibility can result in many working parents dropping out of programs that would have otherwise greatly benefited them. 

One solution to this problem is asynchronous online coursework. This work can be completed on a schedule you set, rather than at a specific meeting time. This allows you to study anytime, anywhere. This gives working students much-needed flexibility around when and where they complete assignments. 

2. Work & Family Priorities

Many adult learners are juggling responsibilities like childcare, eldercare, and commitments to family and friends. They often have to split the time they might otherwise use for coursework with responsibilities like dropping off and picking up children from school and activities, or working extra hours to support their professional career. 

To help alleviate the pressure that can come with a traditional semester model, National University’s 12-month course cycles are a unique rolling system of month-long courses. Unlike the regular university semester model, these course cycles are accessible at any time of year, with no built-in downtime in the summer and winter. This allows students to study at a pace that works around their busy schedules. This model also allows students to focus on a single class at a time and not worry about juggling multiple deadlines for various pieces of coursework throughout a semester.

3. Financial Pressures

According to a study by educational advocacy group EAB, 60% of graduate and adult learners cite cost as the primary reason they remove a graduate school from their consideration list. Respondents also chose cost as the single most important determining factor for potential grad schools, ranking it over program accreditation, career services, and program outcomes. For adult learners, financial challenges aren’t limited to tuition costs; these students must also consider the potential for lost income while in school.

With programs that follow competency-based progress, busy adult learners can prioritize gaining knowledge and developing their skills instead of spending time commuting to a physical classroom. Because they are self-paced, students can move steadily through required curriculum modules, enabling them to finish their degree. 

Qualifying students can often take advantage of credit transfers to shorten the length of their grad program. This is when a university accepts credits previously completed at another accredited institution. While there are some limitations on which credits can be transferred, this can be an easy way for adult students to apply their previous experience towards their current grad school program. 

How Online Learning Makes Balance Achievable

National University’s online coursework is asynchronous, meaning there is no set time or place where students must attend in person to complete assignments. Instead, they have 24/7 access to coursework that they can complete when it’s right for them. This online learning flexibility can be especially helpful for working adults who might have obligations beyond what a traditional student usually experiences. 

For example, let’s say that an adult learner has a conference they must attend for work. This conference will mean extra hours for preparation, travel, and attendance on top of their regular workload. With asynchronous scheduling, they can focus on their professional work without worrying about missing lectures or assignments and make up their grad school coursework on their own time around their additional responsibilities.

National University’s online programs are also mobile-friendly, meaning that students can access, complete, and submit assignments on mobile devices. This more inclusive and accessible learning option is designed to complement the flexibility of online classes. It allows students to truly “work from anywhere,” whether that’s an employee break room, a home office, or the waiting area of children’s after-school activities. Some common ways students can use mobile-friendly learning to their advantage include:

• Checking grades and announcements as soon as they’re posted by professors.
• Adding responses and comments in real-time to class discussion boards. 
• Learning and studying from anywhere, even if it is an area that would normally be too busy or loud to access on a large device.
• Watching or listening to lectures in small chunks when they might otherwise be scrolling, such as in a cafe queue or on public transit.  
• Responding to emails or submitting assignments when life gets in the way, such as when their home is impacted by a temporary network outage.

Benefits for Working Adults

National University’s online format is designed for working adults who need flexibility, resources, and support specific to the challenges adult learners face.

1. Short Term Cycles

National University offers short-term course cycles, so students can enroll in classes they need at nearly any time of the year. Available in 4-week and 8-week formats (depending on the program), these concentrated curriculum cycles help keep students’ focus high without the stamina required for long semesters. This gives students more flexibility to study at their own pace without sacrificing structured deadlines, which can help them progress faster than other programs.

2. Transfer Credits & Prior Learning

Students with credits from a prior university or an accredited program may transfer credits toward their next degree. National University also offers robust credits for prior learning (CPL). This is where you earn credit towards your degree for the skills you’ve gained through work, military service, training programs, or other real-life experiences. Students can also request to take an NU internal exam for possible course credits, which can waive course requirements if passed.

3. Career-Relevant Curriculum

NU offers curricula that are aligned with workplace realities, which can significantly increase the return on investment (ROI) for the time and money that students spend in their grad school journey. Our graduate programs give students the best of both worlds by combining academic theory with instruction on real-world application. This prepares graduates to immediately apply their learning after graduation, helping them adjust faster to the competitive workplace. 

4. Support Services Designed for Adults

The NU online graduate format is specially designed with support services that consider the unique needs of adult learners and working students, such as:

• Dedicated advisors: We have dedicated academic and financial advisors who are trained to respond to the needs of adult students. These advisors also help evaluate non-traditional experience (such as military or career training) for potential credit. 
• Career coaching: Our career coaching is designed for students who are new to their careers, as well as seasoned professionals looking to change industries or level up to senior roles. These services help connect students with potential employers and offer specialized training for career transitions. 
• Tech support: We have a 24/7 IT help desk support that can help students with troubleshooting for online courses, login issues, browser configuration, and more. 
• Accessibility services: We offer a multidisciplinary approach to designing, implementing, and sustaining accessible learning environments with self-advocacy training, technology resources, access to communication, and more. 

Time Management Strategies & Routines That Work

Time management is a key skill, especially for working grad students. Keeping calendars up-to-date, planning touchpoints with professors and advisors, and balancing time between work and classes are essential for successfully managing the demands of grad school. 

Some tactics that can help students manage their time efficiently include:

• Time Blocking: This is where students carve out time specifically for studying.  Preferably, these time blocks are consistent to ensure that study time is protected from other obligations, as well as provide firm work-life boundaries that allow students to rest. 
• Productivity Tools: Students can use productivity tools to manage repetitive tasks, freeing up energy for deeper study. This might look like a project management tool that helps you see deadlines for all classes in one place or an app that converts handwritten notes into a digital file on your computer. 
• Pomodoro Study Technique: This time management technique maximizes focus by incorporating short, intentional breaks into longer periods of reading or studying. In this method, you work for 25-minute bursts called “pomodoros” with a 5-minute break after each one. After four pomodoros, you take a longer 15-30 minute break. 
• Cohort Study Groups: Studying with other members of your grad school program can not only keep you accountable for completing assignments, but also give you a much-needed sense of community. 
• Weekly planning: Planning each week before it starts can help you get ahead of potential pitfalls before they happen. For example, if you know a big grad school project and an important presentation at work are both scheduled during the same week, planning for them early on can help you manage your time appropriately and reduce your stress around both. 

Here’s a sample of what a typical week might look like for a working adult balancing grad school, work, and life: 

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Morning	Work	Work	Work	Watch Lectures	Work	Study/Finish assignments	Rest
Lunch	Study	Work	Work	Study	Study	Rest	Rest
Afternoon	Work/Pick up kids	Work/Pick up kids	Work/Gym	Work/Pick up kids	Work	Listen to lectures/House chores	Readings/Assignments
Evening	Dinner/Social time	Dinner/Hobbies or Gym	Dinner/Study	Dinner	Dinner/Social time	Dinner/Social time	Rest

While it can be difficult to balance the demands of school, work, and your home life, planning intentional time for rest and time with your loved ones is critical to your grad school success. Not doing so can lead to burnout and exhaustion, both of which can cause your grades to fall or stop you from attending classes altogether.  

Building Sustainable Support Systems

A strong grad school support network can help students manage the demands of balancing responsibilities across home, work, and classwork. This might look like sharing responsibilities with others in the household, such as one spouse taking over chores so the other spouse can devote their free time to studying. Organizations might also offer support through schedule flexibility or employer tuition assistance if the area of study is relevant to the role or industry.  

Other members of a student’s grad school cohort can also be a great source of support. These students will be intimately familiar with the requirements of the program and what it will take to succeed. Together, grad students can hold each other accountable for deadlines while fostering an important sense of community.

Mental Wellness & Burnout Prevention

Managing stress is one of the most important skills you can develop for success in grad school. It’s impossible to do your best work if stress or burnout is keeping you from sleeping, eating, or having some time for yourself. Studies show that up to 50% of graduate students report symptoms of depression, anxiety, or burnout during their training, and poor mental well-being is often cited as a major contributor to students’ decision to leave their degrees unfinished. 

Burnout prevention for students requires a multi-faceted approach that takes physical, mental, and emotional health into consideration. After all, you could have the best time-management and planning skills in the world, and it will still be impossible to do your best work if you aren’t also prioritizing getting enough sleep. Conversely, you can take excellent care of your physical body, but stress can be harder to manage if you have poor boundaries around your study schedule. 

Take a look at some of our stress-management tips for grad students:

• Get plenty of sleep, aiming for 7-9 hours per night
• Schedule breaks into long study sessions, and set firm boundaries around when you stop working each day
• Break down complex projects into smaller tasks to avoid feeling overwhelmed
• Exercise for at least 30 minutes most days of the week to improve physical health and release endorphins.
• Take advantage of campus resources such as free university counseling or support groups
• Celebrate small wins, as well as the big ones

Financial Planning Tips for Working Students

When you’re planning for the cost of going to school, you’ll need to factor in expenses beyond just tuition. This might include housing, food, and transportation costs, as well as those for books and supplies, technology expenses, and different university fees. Working students will also need to factor in any lost income they might incur while they attend classes. For example, if you’re a server who normally works lunch and dinner shifts throughout the week, you might have to give up shifts that fall during the time you’ve blocked for classwork.  

The good news is that there are many resources available to help working students financially plan for school. From federal financial aid and employer reimbursement to budgeting tips specifically for adults, here are some of the ways you can start thinking about financial planning:

• FAFSA for Adult Students: The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is an application operated by the U.S. Department of Education and the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) that allows students to qualify for federal, state, and institutional financial aid. They provide an adult learner checklist with links to resources for federal funding, income tax credits, and more. 
• Employer Tuition Reimbursement: Talk to your company’s human resources (HR) department to understand policies around tuition assistance for online grad programs. Be sure to ask questions about which degrees/courses are covered, the maximum amount of tuition that’s covered, and any repayment requirements. 
• Budgeting While in School: Create a detailed list of all your monthly school expenses, along with existing household costs such as rent and groceries. Track your expenses using an app or spreadsheet to monitor your spending and ensure you stay within your budget. 
• Use Student Discounts: You are likely eligible for a variety of student discounts for things you already use, such as streaming services, meal prep packages, gym memberships, home decor, fashion, technology, and even air travel. Taking advantage of even small discounts can create more wiggle room in your budget than you may expect. 
• Adult Learner Scholarships: There are many scholarships available exclusively for adults who are returning to school or attending for the first time. These scholarships and grants will vary in amount and requirements, as well as whether they’re a one-time grant or renewable for multiple consecutive semesters. 

At National University, our financial aid team is ready to help you understand the cost of your education and secure the resources you need to pay for college. Check out our financial aid and scholarships resources to learn more. 

Success Stories: Real Working Professionals at NU

National University is dedicated to helping working adults gain the real-world experience they’re seeking in their careers. Read more about some of our adult learner success stories to see what NU graduates have experienced after earning an online degree:

Amanda originally earned her bachelor’s degree in criminology, but her dreams of working with adolescents came to a halt when the 2008 market crash hit just as she entered the job market. When she later got an opportunity to work with at-risk youth, she turned to National University to further her education with a master’s degree. Amanda had this to say about her experience attending National University while taking care of her mother through a health scare:

“I felt National University was a good fit for me because of the way the classes are styled. Once I got into the program, and the professors were very supportive, that made me very comfortable, and I was confident that I could finish the program with no problem.”  

Kristian is a husband, father, and veteran who struggled to transition into civilian life. However, after completing his bachelor’s degree at National University, Kristian was able to pursue a better life for his family. Then, in 2018, he and his wife both graduated with their master’s degrees. Kristian now works as a director of finance and clinical administrator in the field he’s always dreamed of, and is currently pursuing his doctorate. In Kristian’s words:

“When I look at being an ANDer, or all of my ‘ands’, I’ve honestly just looked at it as the way life had to be lived in my circumstance. I hope, if anything, what people see is that all your ‘ands’ don’t have to stop you from doing more.”

Summary & Action Steps

Grad school is an exciting opportunity to further your education and open the door to more career opportunities. While there are challenges that adult learners might face, National University’s online format is designed with their unique needs in mind. Here are some key takeaways for how working students can begin to prepare for their grad school ambitions:

• Define goals for your future, both personally and professionally, to compare against what a grad school program’s curriculum offers.
• Select a flexible format that can accommodate asynchronous and mobile-friendly learning, as well as self-paced curriculum models.
• Plan your schedule carefully and ensure you’ve built in time for rest and self-care around work, life, and school.
• Utilize support services that are designed for adult learners, such as National University’s dedicated advisors, career coaching, and free university counseling.