Thinking about going to college, either directly from high school or after having spent thirty years in work world, can be equally daunting. You may ask yourself questions like; "Can I afford it?" or "Do I have the time?" To lesson the burden on your current life situation you may decide that getting your feet wet slowly may be the best decision. You can take one class at first and then work your way to more demanding schedules in the future. If this is the case for you, consider a few points first:
- If you're looking at taking one class and need assistance to pay for the course you can apply for one of the Hutchinson Center Scholarships or Osher Scholarships available to students taking a college course for the first time.
- If you need to receive Financial Aid to pay for your education you must be at least a part time student (2 classes minimum per semester) and enrolled in a degree program from a university/college (apply for admission)
Once you have decided on how to pay for your course you can think about what this course can do for you. Are you interested because it looks fun? Is it required for your employment? Are you planning on using this course to count towards a future degree? These questions are important because it will help you see how it can benefit you in the future. Courses and the information you take away from them are building blocks for larger educational goals like Certificates, Associate Degrees, Bachelors Degrees, Masters Degrees, and Doctoral Degrees. Each of these goals has a "recipe" of courses required. The course you're interested in today may fit into this recipe. Even if you think you may not want to apply for admission to any of the degrees offered at the Hutchinson Center yet, it might be a good idea to see what this course could do for you beyond the completion of that last assignment. This is why meeting with an Academic Advisor is important. You might not realize yet how much you could do with that one class!
Applying for admission to a University or College is a great way to start too. This way you can also apply for Financial Aid and commit yourself to taking courses towards a specific degree. Some people think that they must have a chosen degree before applying to college. I'm here to tell you that is not always true. You can be undecided and still apply for admission.
