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For Military Spouses, a UMGC Degree is Built Around Life on the Move

Balancing school and military life

“Military life is always going to have a deployment, a training exercise, or a surprise PCS [permanent change of station] on the horizon,” she said. “If you wait for life to calm down, you will never start. The beauty of UMGC is that it’s built for our organized chaos.”

While her husband was away, Hayes shifted to what she described as “solo parenting,” an experience that taught her “a level of extreme discipline.” UMGC’s flexible virtual environment and the shared understanding among its military-affiliated students, she said, made the difference. 

Finding community in a virtual classroom

For Penelope Wolfe ’26, the path to graduation also unfolded alongside major transitions. Wolfe earned a Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies, graduating cum laude after moving from Maryland to join her husband, Jordan, a Marine Corps sergeant at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Within six months, he was deployed, just as she began her first classes at UMGC.

“Before that, I went to a small community college where everybody knew everyone,” she said. “Then I moved to a completely online environment in school. It was my first time living on my own, [balancing] new homeowner responsibilities and working full-time while also going to school full-time. It ended up being a lot to juggle.”

Her community college coursework transferred to UMGC, she qualified for a military spouse tuition rate, and she connected with a success coach, Leo Hill, who she said “was always on it if I needed anything, any kind of support.” She also appreciated professors who understood military life—and in fact, estimates indicate that some 16 percent of UMGC faculty and staff are themselves military-affiliated. 

“If I ever had something going on because Jordan was gone, and I had so many things on my plate, my professors were always very understanding and able to accommodate my needs,” she said.

When Wolfe’s husband was later stationed in Japan, 14 hours ahead of her time zone, she planned her study time carefully so she could talk with him.

“I would come home and try to plan out my evening. From 5:30 to 7 is a great time for me to get all my homework done, or as much as I can, because he's going to be up at 8 p.m., and I'll be able to talk to him.” 

Those circumstances sharpened her time management skills and pushed her to use resources like UMGC’s Writing Center. Later, Career Services would help her find a full-time position as a legal assistant in North Carolina. 

Through discussion boards at the beginning of each class, Wolfe built connections with other military spouses as well as active-duty students. “People will say, ‘I’m in the same state’, or ‘I’m going through the same thing,’ or ‘my husband also is deployed. Feel free to reach out to me.’”

Recognition beyond the classroom

Karen Santiago ’26 completed her MBA, graduating cum laude, while living in Okinawa with her retired Marine Corps husband, who also earned an MBA from UMGC. 

After Santiago and fellow student Dayla Moghimi Azari ’26 delivered a standout team capstone presentation, Overseas Collegiate Professor Gregory Evans, PhD, presented each with a special coin—recognition traditionally reserved for servicemembers after finishing a mission.

“While active-duty servicemembers are mission-aligned, spouses are as well, just in a different way,” Santiago said. “When we are asked to hold down the fort, to carry the weight of the household, and to support our families through long hours, deployments, and uncertainty, we are contributing to that mission every single day.”

Receiving the coin, she said, “affirmed that our role, no matter how behind-the-scenes it may seem, matters. It reminded me that being ‘mission-ready’ is not limited to those in uniform. It also belongs to those striving to build stability, pursue education, and create a better quality of life for their families.”