A dismal economy has left many moms scrambling to retrain, reboot or rethink their professions.Whether you’ve lost your job or are just plain lost, answers may be found online, where you can get career-building degrees by logging on from, well, anywhere—a coffee shop, the kitchen, your kid’s rugby practice. Which programs can get you to the next phase of your career quickest? Read on to get advice on the best path to take, how much time you’ll need to invest and how to afford it all.

A Victim of downsizing
Suddenly you’re collecting an unemployment check (or the office rumor mill has you fearing you soon will be). Your best bet may be to build a new skill set via an online degree in a field that isn’t subject to the whims of Wall Street. Health care, accounting, information technology, teaching and law enforcement are some of the most stable professions right now, says consultant Susan Deane, author of Online Education: Is It for You? For those seeking an undergraduate college or university degree, taking the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams could enable you to bypass classes that cost $1,000 or more—and, perhaps more important for busy moms, get that diploma in your hand even sooner. Search for CLEP facts at collegeboard.com.

Timeline
If you’re out of work, opt to get your degree quickly by finding online programs that have multiple start dates and short sessions (six to nine weeks), so you can take two at a time.

Expense
If you’re entering a field like health care, social services or teaching, you might qualify for a federal program that forgives student loans for people who commit to working in high-need areas. Find out more at  finaid.org/loan/forgiveness.phtml.

In Pursuit of a Promotion
Cash-crunched and barely paying the bills? Lots of two-income households are now single-income. If your family depends entirely on your paycheck, your best strategy might be to do all you can to get a pay increase. Not an easy task in tough economic times, but the right online degree could accelerate your corporate climb. Read listings at sites like Monster and Yahoo! HotJobs to see what degrees your target position traditionally requires, says Cyndie Shadow, the University of Phoenix’s Washington, DC, campus director. She also recommends researching a master’s in business administration, since it teaches management principles that you can immediately road test.

Timeline
If you’re working full-time, start slowly with one online class that can be taken over 15 to 16 weeks.

Expense
Talk to your employer about tuition reimbursement. Helen MacDermott, the content director at eLearners.com, suggests leaving ample time for the paperwork. Make sure you’ve worked at your company long enough to qualify for its program, and find out if you’ll have to pay your tuition up front and if there’s a grade-point average requirement.

Becoming Your own Boss
When you’re sick of the politics and panic over every bankruptcy rumor—or just feeling fearless—launching your own business might be the solution. In a recession, experts say to avoid fields that are more vulnerable when people cut back, like home decorating or pet grooming, and focus on, say, child or elder care, where there’s always a need.
If you plan to work for yourself, acquiring information and skills trumps an impressive-sounding degree. So focus on a single noncredit class in the area in which you lack experience—accounting, marketing, bookkeeping—or go for a career certificate in a business you’d like to start, like wedding planning. Some of today’s best bets: medical billing, paralegal work and medical transcription.

Timeline
Noncredit career certificates have the advantage of being quick: On average they take from eight months to a year to complete.

Expense
Getting career certificates online is usually inexpensive, costing anywhere from $800 to $1,300. Be sure, though, to choose an accredited program— which holds true for any type of online education. Check with the
Council for Higher Education Accreditation (chea.org) for more information.