Career Change - Need advice on choosing a college (what costs will my Pell Grant cover, etc.)?

Just being honest here............ Keep in mind, while there are a lot of places offering online degrees - REAL companies do not hire those grads, as they have no proof they actually did the work themselves. With so many people getting 4yr Bachelors degrees, the time is going to come quickly that the "new highschool diploma" will be an AA degree - and as thus, it's not going to make you much of a viable candidate against people with more education, or allow you to make $50K. The fact that you have bills, kids, etc. - suggests that there is no way to collect enough aid to replace your income, unless you've been living off minimum wage. Financial Aid, loans and grants, are only intended to support ONE PERSON (i.e. a college student themselves, only).

A lot of community colleges offer online degrees now days, and they'll be reputable, your least expensive option, and you can use your FAFSA aid to pay for the courses you take there. As part of their business/adminstrative assistant/office management degrees, you may even find some events planning classes. Check! Here is a link to what appears to be all the online programs offered by the ccs in CA: http://www.cvc.edu/students/programs/ Are you still working as an administrator? If so, then talk to them about taking on more meeting planning, travel, and events related responsibilities. If not, then don't worry about it - but if you're working, try to take on more responsibilities related to the type of job you really want, because that's going to help you. In a lot of fields, including administration and corporate events planning (in case that's an option for you), an associates degree is all you need. A bachelors is nice, but not required. The associates is what you can focus on. You can use it to either advance within your current career (admin), or to move into corporate events planning, or to open your own events business. If you do have to work during school due to financial committments, that's okay. So be it. But try to get jobs related to what you want to do when you graduate. Even temp work - so long as the work involves some of the responsibilities an events planner normally has, that work is going to help you. Avoid any of those "famous for being online" schools, because employers don't respect those degrees. Instead, get your degree from a reputable, brick and mortar college - but one that also offers online degrees. Like the CA community colleges. I have seen office administrators and office managers with associates degrees making over $50k, yes. I can't promise that you will, but you absolutely can. So when you graduate, try to find a job with a larger employer - one who respects admins, who pays them decently, and who likes to promote from within. That'll put you on track to making $50k or more, if not at first, then a couple of years in.

Choose a community college. These are the cheapest school, thus allowing you the most for living expenses. It's unlikely that you'll make 50k with an Associates degree, as most good jobs require a BS or BA -- the Associates is similar to what a high school diploma was 10 years ago. Then again, if you go into business for yourself -- you could make excellent money (it just depends). The $5,500 Pell will be based on full-time student status. If you take out student loans, you might be able to cover what you were earning working; however, you cannot receive more in financial aid then the school's cost of attendance. As a single mom, there's no way that I could cover my expenses with financial aid only, so I continue to work full-time. Plus, I'm trying to keep my loans as low as possible by only using what I need for tuition (I even pay for my books out-of-pocket). You can work and attend school full-time, choose a school with online and/or evening classes if you work during the day. As for the degree... an Associates isn't really going to help you down the road financially. I would choose what could help you start this business (if you're really interested in it): marketing, management, entrepreneurship, etc. Plus, you could always go back to school (or continue) for your BS or BA. Good luck to you.