Are you a working professional who wants to start or finish a degree? Working professionals have added time commitments of work responsibilities and family responsibilities which make it difficult to add college to an already busy schedule.

Most corporations (about 87%) offer some type of Tuition Assistance Program for employees to finish a degree, certificate and group of classes. However, only about 7 - 10% of the employees in those corporations take advantage of that reimbursement benefit. Does your company offer tuition reimbursement for your degree?

Why do you and other working professionals not finish the degree if the company is paying part or all the tuition costs? Here are some common reasons why.

• You think it will take too long. However, with all the new options to gain life/work experience credits (using military courses, licenses, certificates, corporate classes for credits) and the accelerated formats of many colleges, the total time to complete a degree may be shorter than you think.

• You don't have hope your former college credits will transfer. Some schools have cut-off times to transfer old credits. But many of the "adult friendly" colleges will transfer in credits, even if they are 25 -30 years old. If one school requires you to "start over", look at other schools.

• You are unsure of the results of the degree. You may realize that it will take several years to complete the degree and you may have money out-of-pocket (if your tuition reimbursement does not cover all the costs). You see some graduates in your company not getting the promotions and advancements and wonder if college is worth it. Make sure you attend the schools recommended by your company and take the major and degree needed for those promotions and advancements.

• Your families are against you returning to school. This is a difficult roadblock to overcome. If you family does not support you returning to college, they will sabotage your study time and you will not succeed. Showing your family how the degree will help those personal and family goals may help them see the need for this sacrifice.

• You don't want to put the cost of tuition on your credit cards. Not all Tuition Assistance Programs reimbursement 100% of the cost of a degree. Most companies average $5000/year. Private school tuition is around $1500 - $2000/class and you can only take 2 - 3 classes/year with this policy cap. State university tuition is much less expensive, and you might be able to stay within your company's tuition cap. Instead of credit cards, some working professional students take out student loans from their credit union or get Financial Aid from the college.

• You don't want to take admission tests, such as the Graduate Management Admission Test or Graduate Record Exam. Not all graduate programs require an admission test. Some colleges will admit you if you have a high Grade Point Average from your undergraduate degree. Others will require essays instead of a test. Others have no admission test requirements at all.

No matter why you are hesitating making that first step towards your degree, you need to write down your top reason why you have not started or completed this degree. Then answer the question: What is different now? How will that roadblock be cleared? Until you know how to overcome your roadblocks, you will have difficulties moving forward with the first steps.

Even though only 7 - 10% of working professionals with Tuition Reimbursement use their companies' benefit, there are still thousands of working professionals who are able to take that first step towards a degree. In the end, they can join the 27% of US population with an undergraduate degree or 7% of the US population with a graduate degree. Will you be among them?

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