[Lizzie]

I had my son between my junior and senior year of my bachelors degree program. I took an entire year off after he was born, but after that, went back and finished my last two semesters. I am not going to lie, it was much more difficult going to college as a parent than as a non parent. But it is completely possible if you set your mind to it.

You have a couple of options depending on what your goals are and the schools in your area. I am making an assumption you are in the US, so if you are not, let me know and I will try to find you relevant information. You could start out by getting your associates degree at a community college. This is what I did, I got my AA back in 2009. It takes two years going full time but they tend to have more convenient class times, like the in the evening. And they tend to cater to people who work or who are parents. My community college campus had its own childcare!

You could get your AA and transfer to a university to finish off a four year degree. Be aware though that this may mean repeating some courses. Things like English and math may not "transfer". Which is very frustrating. There are ways around most of that if you are willing to battle with the department.

You could also just jump right into a bachelors degree. This takes about 4-5 years going full time, longer if you go part time. But you won't risk having to potentially repeat courses. If you can find a campus with childcare, even better! However universities tend to be less lenient with their time. They may not care or cater to a parent. Luckily I had amazing professors and if my babysitter backed out the last minute, they let me bring my toddler to class with me.

You can also take online courses. There are some really great, accredited universities out there that have amazing online programs. My master's program is extended learning, which is about 90% online and 10% on campus. This, so far, has seemed to be an easy way to manage both my academics and parent life. I can be home and potty train my kid as well as listen to the professor lecture.

It's definitely not an issue of can you do it, but are you willing to work really hard to achieve your goal. Because you CAN do it, it will just take work and time. And even if you go part time and slowly chip away at the class load, you are still working closer and closer to that degree.