We’re now in an age where the world is very much our oyster if we choose it to be. When it comes to education, knowledge is power and learning can be done at any age. Whether it’s a course online or heading to university, here’s some guidance on getting back into education.

Finding The Funding

The great thing about education is that it’s open to anyone and that means it’s never too late to get additional education, even if you’re retired! However, life can make things a little difficult, particularly when it comes to the funding aspect of going to university or studying an online course. Some university fees can cost thousands upon thousands of dollars, and for some, that’s just not doable with either the salary that they’re on or the lack of savings. However, you can find potential funding for your course through a number of ways. Here are just a few to get you started:

  • Contact The University Directly – Every university is different, and some may have different options when it comes to financial aid. So it’s worth emailing the colleges directly to see what they have available once you’ve picked out where you’d like to study.
  • Ask Friends And Family For Help – Nowadays, with the power of social media, you have the opportunity to fundraise your funding with friends and family or even strangers. You may have seen previous examples of seeing individuals reaching out to the masses and using social media as a way to pitch to them to get the backing you need. Never underestimate the power of social media!
  • Consider A Loan – This might not be for everyone, and it’s always advised that when it comes to loans, to take caution. However, loans can be a lifeline for funding especially if you don’t have the savings.
  • Scholarships – Scholarships are great for those lacking the funds because they can end up paying for all of your studies. Scholarships can also be offered for a variety of reasons so you shouldn’t dismiss this avenue of funding. You may surprise yourself by the opportunities it presents.
  • Pitch It To Your Workplace – If you’re not planning a career change but wanting to move up in your organization, it might be an idea to pitch what you want to study to your workplace. Chances are if you’re valuable to the company and this could end up benefiting the company itself, they’ll cough up some or even all of the funds to get you qualified. Every company tries to train it’s staff in some shape or form, so its worth a go.

Knowing Your Strengths

Further education is a great way of enhancing your skills and knowledge of a particular subject, but it’s important to know your strengths before you go and pick a course in Maths when you probably could be better at something else. We are all different, and that’s what makes us unique. So jot down on a piece of paper what your strengths are. Make sure you cover every aspect of your life because somewhere in it, is your talent for the topic you’ll pick to study.

Take your time with this and really focus on what you excel at in life. Don’t forget to ask close family and friends because they might have seen something you’ve missed.

Picking A Subject

The next thing that follows on from that is picking a subject. Now obviously, you want a subject that you are going to enjoy and want to study. However, it’s common amongst students, particularly those who are younger, have chosen subjects recommended by others and perhaps influenced by their parents or careers advisors at school. Getting advice is certainly important, but at the end of the day, you’ll be studying that subject. You’re spending the money, and you’ll hopefully want to use the qualification, to make or further a career from it. That’s not going to happen if you didn’t really like the subject in the first place.

Again, it’s important to really think about this part as you’re going to be spending a lot of money and some courses may be more costly than others.

Choosing The Place Of Study

Whether you move to study elsewhere, stay in your hometown or study online, it’s important to choose the right place to study. If you want to move away, you’ll need to think about the living costs of going elsewhere. You may also need to think about learning a new language if heading overseas. If you want to stay near home, you’ll want to think about where the colleges are around you that do your required subject. If there’s nothing around, then you can always consider an online course because let’s be honest, you don’t need to go anywhere specific to do it!

If you’re looking for some inspiration then just take a look at the BBA in Marketing degree by Walsh University. A course that’s 100% online and that you can do from the comfort of your own home. If that’s not a great positive of the online presence then what is?

Thinking About The Commitments

As you get older, factoring in further study can be more complex. You may have started a family or perhaps just bought a property, and therefore there are more responsibilities to take care of financially. That being said, it’s not just about the finances but about what you can commit to. Different subjects will ask for certain commitments to time and flexibility. There are the term times to think about and how they could end up clashing with other life events. Your timetable will also be something to consider if you’re not planning on giving up your job or your daily responsibilities at home. Term dates and timetables are something that you’ll be able to find out about through research and speaking to the course leader directly.

You’ll also have assignments that will require access to relevant literature or equipment, many of which will likely have to come out of your own pocket. So there’s a lot of factors to consider when it comes to the commitment of education. It’s both a financial and time burden in your life.

Is It Right For You Now?

No matter what course you study and whether you move away or go online, going back into education is challenging. So even if you’ve decided on all of the above, it’s still worth questioning if this is right for you in this current moment in time. Life has a funny way of playing out different for all of us, and we can often trust our gut when something doesn’t feel right. So if you do have any doubts when it comes to this decision, it might be worth taking a step back.

You shouldn’t consider this as something to get upset over because we all have our time in life for everything. Just because it’s not happening now, doesn’t mean it won’t in the future. At the end of the day, no one wants to live with regret so trust your instincts.

Getting back into education is exciting, especially when pretty much anyone can do it. It can be a fantastic and life-changing opportunity for someone who perhaps wants a change of career, feels stuck in their current job or just wants to learn something new. But like other big expenditures in life, it’s important to do your research well and be fully invested in your decision to study.