Sat Nov 21 2009
By JENNY DERRINGER
EDON -- One of the best ways to get ahead and find a better-paying job is to earn a college degree.
But in these tough economic times, some people have to choose between paying their utility bills or filling their gas tank, not necessarily worrying about tuition.
One area resident thankful to have been awarded a full-ride scholarship is Edon resident Carrie Miller. In April, Miller began a search for an online college and eventually hooked up with eLearners.com.
Miller entered a contest offered through the organization and was notified in August that she won tuition and expenses involved in earning an online associate's degree in accounting from DeVry University.
She has already begun taking classes and expects earning the degree will be a two-year process.
The 1992 Middletown High School graduate is a single mom with a 1-year-old daughter.
She chose to take classes online in accounting "so I can stay home with my daughter as long as I can," said Miller.
Living in a small town, her goal is to have her own accounting business and serve the community.
"This will let me have a job that will pay me what I'm worth," said Miller. "I'm tired of working minimum wage jobs."
After taking a few classes online, she describes her progress so far as excellent. "I'm doing so much better than I did in high school," she said.
The eLearners.com organization and its Project Working Mom can be a financial lifeline to single mothers throughout the country.
According to eLearners.com, there are 12,905,000 single-parent families in the country, with 10,404,000 headed by women and 2,501,000 headed by men.
"Project Working Mom was created by eLearners to address the issues of time, money and confidence that serve as barriers to working moms getting the degree they deserve," state Helen MacDermott, spokesman for eLearners.
"Project Working Mom is an awareness campaign that seeks to improve the lives of working moms and their families through online education," said MacDermott. "Education is key to career advancement, and online education offers the flexibility that working mothers need to be able to pursue the education or training they need to get ahead.
The first campaign attracted more than 50,000 applications."
The current deadline to apply for a full-ride scholarship to Everest University is Tuesday. The application deadline for numerous other online colleges was Aug. 30.
For more information, visit the website at www.elearners.com/projectworkingmom/.
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