The Busy Mom’s Guide to Going Back to School Online: What to Expect and How to Make It Work

• Single moms deserve to invest in themselves—not just their families. Going back to school isn’t selfish; it’s a powerful way for single mothers to pursue personal fulfillment, build confidence, and model resilience and determination for their children.
• Flexible, career-focused education makes new opportunities realistic. Self-paced online programs—especially in healthcare and veterinary fields—can fit into demanding schedules, offer strong earning potential, and align naturally with caregiving skills many moms already have.
• Support, affordability, and motivation make success possible. With accessible resources like grants, monthly payment plans, supportive instructors, and practical motivation strategies, single moms don’t have to do it all alone to reach their educational and professional goals.

Being a mom is often a rewarding but exhausting and even thankless job. For single mothers, it may feel like everything in your life, every action you take, is for someone else. There’s nothing wrong with doing everything in your power to be the best parent you can be, especially when you’re doing it on your own. But that doesn’t mean you can’t also do things for yourself. If you’re thinking about going back to school or making a career change, but are hesitant to invest that much time, energy, and money into yourself, let this guide show you that you are, indeed, worth it.

There are clear benefits to gaining knowledge and, potentially, credentials: better jobs, higher salaries, setting a good example. But all those things can arguably be reasons that have everything to do with your family and not a lot to do with you. While still great reasons, you deserve to do this for yourself.

Everyone deserves to reach for their dreams, and while you don’t necessarily need to prove anything to yourself, it’s always nice to have validation that you can, in fact, do anything - even while raising kids on your own. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’ll be easy.

Rose, a Penn Foster graduate, explains, “As a single mom, the journey to graduating from an online college has been filled with unique challenges and obstacles. Balancing parenthood, work, and studies tested my resolve, but I refused to let anything stand in the way of my dreams.” She goes on to say, “As the first person in my family to graduate from an online college, I stand as a beacon of hope and inspiration for my kids, proving that with determination and perseverance, anything is possible.”

Read more: 6 Tips for Going Back to College or Career School as an Adult

There are endless careers out there, and any one of them can be your dream job. But for single moms who are low on time, energy, and money, you may be surprised how conveniently a career in healthcare of veterinary services can slip into your life.

As a parent, caregiving often comes naturally. Why not put those skills to use in a way that earns you a paycheck? The healthcare field has more jobs than you probably know that allow you to work with patients and some jobs that even let you work from home. Medical billing and coding, medical transcription, phlebotomy, and medical assisting are just some of the many healthcare career options that can work great with a single mom’s schedule. As a bonus, some of these careers have a pretty decent salary attached. If you’re someone who much prefers the company of animals to humans, veterinary technicians or even veterinary assistants do important, rewarding work.

Read more: Which Healthcare Certifications Pay the Most? A Guide to Higher-Earning Medical Jobs Through Certification

Sometimes the struggle of life can feel so impossible that we forget that it’s 2026 and there are resources for nearly everyone and everything. Single parents are no exception. For example, there’s a grant called the Live Your Dream Award that’s purpose is to help women, single mothers especially, achieve their education goals. There are resources that see single mothers for who they are: humans expected to be much more, and usually living up to that expectation, but often at the cost of themselves (their own health, their own time, their own happiness).

Online education programs can be the most convenient option for single mothers who don’t have childcare or can’t adjust their work schedule to attend school. Programs like Penn Foster’s are self-paced, flexible, and less of a financial burden than traditional school options. There are several healthcare and veterinary programs to choose from if these are areas you're interested in.

If you want to explore what other resources are out there for single mom’s looking to get an education, this guide from The Life of a Single Mom supplies some great options not just specifically for how to go back to school but also how to lessen some of the other burdens single moms may face that are preventing them from reaching their personal education goals.

Read more: Top Healthcare and Medical Careers for 2025

Support can be hard to come by for many single moms who are responsible for almost everything themselves. But support is exactly what they will need to be able to add another ball to their already impressive juggling act. What that looks like on a personal level is likely different for every single mom, but seeking out online programs that have supportive staff available for any help needed can make a world of difference.

Convenience is another big thing that may make or break a single mom’s ability to go back to school and start a new career. The lives of single mothers revolve around their children and what they need, where they need to go, and if they are giving them the best life they possibly can. That means they may not opt to enroll in school full time or even part time. They simply don’t have the time. Self-paced online programs can be the perfect solution for moms looking for the opportunity to go back to school but are unable to break up their current schedule.

Financials are also often a big, if not the biggest, roadblock for single mothers trying to go back to school. The good news is that there are affordable programs out there. Penn Foster has monthly payment options that can lessen the stress on your wallet when trying to get a degree or certification.

Read more: 9 Best Careers for the Future

It can be hard for any type of student to actually sit down and focus on school work. For single moms who are short on time and energy, it can feel nearly impossible. Here are some motivation techniques to help you stay on track while still being a full-time parent:

1. Create a weekly schedule that fits schoolwork into your routine.
2. Dedicate a space in your home to work on school.
3. Break up your big goal (graduating, starting a new career) into smaller goals (complete a class, pass a test).
4. Use a reward system (if it works for your kids, it can work for you too!).
5. Write down your “why”- why you’re doing this, why it’s worth it- and hang it in your study space.

Read more: How Penn Foster’s Vet Tech Program Helped Jo Dsouza Balance Work, School, and His Passion for Animals

If you’re leaning towards enrolling in an online program to obtain a new career in healthcare or veterinary services, or anything else, but are still a bit hesitant, take a look at these FAQs:

Many online education programs are flexible, allowing students to complete coursework on their own schedule. Programs like Penn Foster are also self-paced, which means it fits into your schedule, not the other way around. There are no due dates for assignments and exams can be taken whenever you feel like you’ve adequately absorbed the material.

The beauty of a self-paced program is that you can work on it whenever you’re able to! If you only have a few minutes to work on it between putting your kids to bed and passing out yourself from exhaustion, that’s enough. Whenever you can find the time to dedicate to it is perfectly acceptable.

Yes! Penn Foster has instructors available by email or phone appointment, and they even have office hours! If you need more general help, there are learner support advocates available by phone and email to answer your questions.

Some of Penn Foster’s online programs have required in-person externships to ensure students get the hands-on training and experience they need to be able to work in the field.

With the convenience and flexibility of online school, it’s both realistic and achievable. A fulfilling career is not out of reach, and you deserve this chance at success for both your family and yourself.

Read more: Going Back to School as an Adult (FAQs)

At Penn Foster, we understand a lot is demanded of single moms. In fact, the demands may seem like they never stop. Enrolling in one of our online veterinary or healthcare programs can open so many doors that, in the long run, can help take things off your plate and make managing being a single, working mom a bit easier. Don’t wait to take this next step in your professional life. The time is now.

Take it from Penn Foster grad Kimberly: “This diploma is more than paper—it’s a promise fulfilled. To every woman chasing purpose, even in the thick of life: it’s never too late to rise. This is only the beginning.”

Request more information about Penn Foster’s programs and get started on the path to a new career.