Studying while caring for a relative

This page helps you plan a term around caring for a family member, whether that care takes a few hours a week or most of your days. It covers your schedule, your aid and the people on campus and in your community who can help.

Shaping a schedule that fits

Start by writing down the hours you are needed most and the hours someone else can cover. With that list, look for online, evening or hybrid sections, and ask your adviser whether a lighter load this term would keep you on track over the longer run. Some programs run in shorter terms that are easier to fit around care.

Tell instructors early if you may need to miss class for a medical appointment or an emergency. Most syllabi explain the attendance policy, and some schools have a caregiver or family policy through the dean of students office.

How caregiving affects your aid

Dropping below half-time can change your loans, and Pell Grants are adjusted for part-time study. Ask the financial aid office to show you your offer at more than one enrollment level before you change your schedule. If you pay for the care of a dependent while you attend, ask whether the school can add those costs to your cost of attendance.

If the person you care for lives with you and you provide more than half of their support, they may count as your dependent on the FAFSA, which can change your status and household size. A sudden loss of family income is a matter for the aid office's special circumstances review, covered on its own page.

Before the term starts

• A weekly map of your caregiving hours
• Your aid offer at full-time and part-time
• The dean of students contact for family emergencies
• One backup person for care during exams

Support from the college

The dean of students office can often coordinate with instructors when a family crisis takes you away for a while. The counseling center can help with the strain that long-term care brings, and many offer short-term sessions at no cost to enrolled students. Some schools also have emergency grants for a sudden expense.

If your grades drop during a hard term, you can explain the reason in a Satisfactory Academic Progress appeal. An incomplete grade, granted by the instructor, can give you time to finish a course after the term ends.

Help in your community

Your local Area Agency on Aging runs a family caregiver support program for people caring for older adults, with respite care, training and counseling. Disease groups, hospital social workers and state disability agencies can point you to other services. Respite care, even for a few hours a week, can make study time possible.

Keep a short folder of the person's medications, doctors and insurance details, so that someone else can step in while you are in class or sitting an exam.