By Noelle Hartt | 08/05/2025
The benefits of a career-relevant education are nearly impossible to overlook: From building an attractive résumé to developing problem-solving skills, formal education offers enrichment, growth, and development.
Yet, many working adults hesitate to pursue continuing education. Balancing personal commitments with a full-time role can prove difficult.
After working 40 hours, commuting, managing household duties, and fulfilling family obligations, it’s easy to lose track of time. Meanwhile, costly tuition expenses pose additional challenges, especially for frontline and entry-level workers.
Still, there are better alternatives to forfeiting your academic dreams. Between affordable online programs and employer tuition aid, postsecondary education has never been more accessible.
Education Doesn’t Need to Upend Your Routine—Or Your Finances
People often associate higher education with hectic class schedules and exorbitant student debt. Attending a university, however, can be remarkably manageable – and affordable – for working adults. Whether your goal is to learn a new skill or become more proficient in your current field, employer benefits and online courses can help support your academic growth.
6 Tips for Balancing Work, Life, and School
There are myriad reasons to pursue higher education as a working adult. For example, in addition to gaining a new credential, you have the opportunity to learn from – and network with – established leaders in your chosen field. At the same time, industry-relevant degrees, certificates, microcredentials, and individual courses emphasize practical, real-world skills.
With careful time management and coordination, even the busiest students can find balance between work, life, and their studies.
1. Choose a School with Monthly Start Dates
Traditional academic calendars have fall and spring semesters that span 15-17 weeks and offer minimal flexibility. Students register for courses before each semester begins, and once classes start, there’s only a short time frame during which they may adjust their course loads.
At American Military University (AMU), online classes start each month, and most courses run for 8 weeks. Students may enroll at any time, and they can stagger their courses as needed to fit their studies into their busy schedules.
2. Find a Program with Online Asynchronous Courses
Studying online eliminates the need to commute, search for parking, and navigate a sprawling campus, but online courses aren’t all created equal. There are many universities that offer online programs with synchronous classes, which means students must log in at a scheduled time to attend live lectures and class discussions.
AMU’s programs are asynchronous to help accommodate students with full-time work schedules and family commitments. There are no set login times; instead, students participate in weekly discussion forums and submit their completed assignments at the end of each week.
3. Enroll as a Part-Time Student
Studying full-time generally requires a minimum of 12 credit hours per term for undergraduate students and six credit hours per term for graduate students. Each credit hour represents approximately one hour of classroom instruction plus two hours of out-of-class student work each week. Based on this estimate, a three-credit course would require students to dedicate at least nine hours toward their studies every week.
Naturally, managing a full-time course load on top of a 40-hour work week has its challenges. Don’t try to take on too much at once. Instead, consider a three-quarter time, half-time, or less than half-time enrollment status.
4. Explore Opportunities to Apply Transfer Credits
Transfer credits allow students to satisfy program requirements and save time on their studies. Between your professional training, career experience, and academic background, you may be closer than you think to completing a degree or certificate.
AMU’s Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) program also helps students receive academic credit for the knowledge and skills they’ve already gained through real-world experience. In addition, government training and military service may count as academic credit as well.
5. Consider Short-Term Programs to Help Sharpen Your Professional Skills
Certificate and microcredential programs offer career-relevant education with fewer credit hour requirements than formal degree programs. Students can reskill and upskill without committing to years of studying.
AMU offers online certificate and microcredential programs for undergraduate- and graduate-level students. Whether you’ve already earned a degree or you have no prior postsecondary education, these short-term programs can help you advance your knowledge and gain new skills.
6. Create a Weekly Routine for Completing Your Schoolwork
Having the freedom of taking asynchronous classes online might make it tempting to adopt a “go-with-the-flow” approach to your studies. Still, squeezing in schoolwork sporadically each week can easily cause you to miss deadlines and run out of time to complete written assignments.
Instead, spend a few minutes carefully reviewing your calendar and your current routine before you enroll in online classes. Identify recurring blocks of “free time” that you can set aside every week to participate in class discussions, study for exams, and complete additional coursework.
Structuring your time this way not only helps create order, but also allows you to ensure you have enough time every week to spend on each of your classes.
It’s Never Too Late to Pursue Your Academic Goals
Education can take many forms, from degree and certificate programs to microcredentials and individual classes you can complete in your free time. Through careful scheduling, concentrated effort, and a commitment to professional development, even working adults can find time to advance academically. Employer-sponsored education benefits also allow students to save on tuition expenses for career-relevant classes and programs.
Ready to advance your education? AMU’s online programs are led by knowledgeable educators, including scholar-practitioners who bring real-world experience into the virtual classroom.
There are no entrance exam requirements, and undergraduate and master’s-level applicants may apply for $0. The University also offers $0 transfer credit evaluations, and students employed by University partners can save 5-20% on tuition with their education benefits. Learn more about how you can advance your knowledge and skills online at AMU.