The adult education balancing act.

This post comes from Canada.com. Going back to school when you have a job and a family is a daunting prospect. Now, imagine you're also a single parent. Belynda Lee-Tjandra, an admissions officer at the Art Institute of B.C., opted for a distance-learning program with Alberta's Athabasca University that let her work online at her own pace. She was also able to transfer half the needed credits toward her bachelor of administration degree from a college management program she'd previously completed. But she still felt like giving up more than once. "Balancing family, career and studies was taking its toll," she admits.

She stuck it out, becoming part of a growing wave of adult students looking for new careers, advancement or just a personal challenge. The number of full-time adult students more than tripled between 1976 and 1996, and continues to rise, according to Statistic Canada. In 2001, 14% of men and 15% of women were taking courses, the majority earning a post-secondary degree at a community college or vocational school. Click here to read the rest of this article.