sopranomom

The problem with many of these programs is that they are all aimed at younger people - there are age limits for Americorps and for the military. Granted, there are more younger people in need of assistance. But some of us who are older who still have student loans hanging over us, and whose kids won't be getting much help because of our student loans, so tey'll be needing larger loans of their own... just call ours the bellwether generation. We're the single parents, usually moms, who went to school to try to lift our kids out of poverty, and in so doing, doomed ourselves to it, and won't be able to be much of a safety net for our next generation. We're facing now what the younger kids are about to in terms of the loans being a lifetime burden.

I second the recommendation of Udacity. I am taking a CS class there now. Right now it's more tech-inclined, but I don't know that tech is its forever focus. Helpfully for you, Dr. Reich, it's headquartered in the Bay Area.