Trucker earning online degree while on the road

Trucker earning online degree while on the road

Julie Hjelle, who spends majority of her days on the road working as a truck driver, is earning her online degree from the University of North Dakota, the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead reports.

Hjelle, 39, of Lankin North Dakota spends three nights a week driving a FedEx truck between Grand Forks and Winnipeg, Canada, while also working two days a week as a nursing home aide.

Even with her busy schedule, Hjelle, a mother of two, is able to keep up with her workload by downloading assignments at truck stops and rest areas.

"I wanted to someday come off the road and have a decent job," Hjelle said, quoted the news source. "You don’t see a lot of 75-year-old ladies driving."

Steven Schmidt, one of Hjelle's online professors added, "the fact that she did this largely from the cab of a semi truck perfectly indicates how much learning is changing."

In addition to UND, there are many other online schools that may be particularly attractive to busy adults who would like to acquire new skills but do not have the time to do so in a traditional setting.

The online education sector grew 13 percent last year and had been growing at about 20 percent in previous years. Nearly one in four students take at least some college courses online, up from one in 10 in 2002, Reuters reports.