If anyone knows how to be an effective student, it might be Nick Uchalik. A policy analyst for the Office of Management and Budget, Uchalik has completed two undergraduate degrees and is now finishing his second master's degree.

What works, he's learned: staying on top of assignments. What doesn't work: procrastinating.

Uchalik and other students who balance full-time federal jobs say going back to school is challenging but manageable using a few key strategies: Choose a program geared toward working adults, stick to a plan for dividing your time, and ask for help from your professors, agency and family.

You might have misgivings about starting something you can't finish, or taking on too much at once. But you may enjoy yourself along the way if you absorb the experience rather than focusing only on the end goal, said Anna Dor, who is working toward her doctorate in education after finishing a dual master's degree.

Dor, a management program analyst with the Homeland Security Department's Citizenship and Immigration Services in Laguna Niguel, Calif., said school is hard work, but it can also be a good time.

"I place so much more importance on the journey," she said.

The right location

Uchalik has about a year's worth of classes left in his international affairs program at George Washington University in Washington. Location was one of the main reasons he chose GWU, only a couple blocks away from his office. Not having to commute an hour or so in rush-hour traffic is a time saver.

He earned his first master's, in public administration, at Western Michigan University in 2007, where he had earned his undergraduate degrees in business and philosophy. The master's program involved some off-site distance education and some travel away from his job — at the time with the Executive Office of the President — for weekend courses.

But like just about every student, he says the effort was worth it.

"I did at the end get through it," Uchalik said. "Having that initial master's degree, I think, has definitely propelled me ahead."

For the most part, people in Uchalik's office have master's degrees, he said. "It made me eligible to move up the ladder."

For his second master's, Uchalik wanted a program that would expose him to a wide variety of policy areas, as well as strengthen his core skills in financial management. When new projects open up at work, taking a class in that topic can give him more academic credibility, he said.

Uchalik recommends students talk to their professors at the outset to find out when the crunch times will be so they can prepare in advance. Any reading or research you can get out of the way ahead of time is helpful, he said.

That helps prevent school and work-related tasks from piling up at the same time, he said.

"Planning is pretty much the biggest strategy," he said. "The real trick is to try to space it out as much as possible. You kind of want to get ahead of the game."

Communicating with the professor in the beginning is a smart tactic. Tell him that there may be times that work-related demands such as meetings conflict with school.

It is inevitable that some students will need to be absent once or twice, usually if they have to travel for business, said James Bailey, a professor at GWU. Absences should not be a problem as long as students let faculty know, and make up the work, Bailey said. Even exams can be scheduled before a trip, if necessary.

Tailored programs

Bailey, who chairs the management department at GWU's School of Business, said most universities and colleges recognize the need to provide graduate-level programs that fit working adults' schedules. At GWU, officials consider it both part of their mission to educate and a financially sound decision, he said.

For example, in GWU's business school, there are three programs designed for students who can attend only part-time, usually at night, because of their full-time jobs. All three require a minimum level of professional experience.

The professional master's of business administration program is the most flexible, allowing enrollees to take up to four years to complete the degree. The accelerated MBA program covers the same curriculum as the professional MBA, but is structured to be completed in just more than two years. The accelerated MBA includes some residencies that likely would require employees to use some of their annual leave.

The executive MBA program, for those with at least 10 years of managerial experience, is taught on weekends instead of nights and during three week-long residencies, including one international one.

The professor advises students to take a project-management approach to their classes.

"A lot of students, professional as well as undergraduate, they have a tendency to procrastinate," Bailey said. "That bites them back hard."

In addition to communicating with your professor, you must decide how much to tell your supervisor.

Most supervisors are aware of their employees' classes, and employees say that support is helpful. But Bailey warned that some supervisors may perceive your taking a graduate program as a way to leave your job or as an extra demand on your time, and may not be as supportive as you would like.

In Bailey's experience, employers generally are supportive of employees' graduate work, especially if they are helping pay tuition. But there are times when students may not inform their bosses because, if the supervisor knew, he might try to find fault with the employee's work.

Address conflicts

Because most students agree their jobs come first, conflicts between work and school must be addressed.

"Work is important. You can't let stuff slide," Uchalik said.

If you get in a bind, as Andrew Strelka learned, ask for a solution. Professors want to work with you if they know you need help. Strelka was able to keep on earning credits through independent study when a detail to another agency caused his work hours to increase.

Strelka graduated from law school at American University and started working for the IRS as a tax attorney about two years ago. At about the same time, he began a program at Georgetown University to earn his master's degree in tax law.

The advanced degree often is tacked on as an additional year of law school for students going full-time. But Strelka did not want to turn down the IRS position, even though it meant turning down a scholarship that was available only to a full-time student. Because he was working full-time, he took two years to complete the program, finishing in May.

Strelka knew which study habits were most effective for him. For example, he liked to get school work out of the way before work so he wouldn't have to worry about it while at the office.

That worked for the first year while his job hours were regular. But then he was detailed to a six-month assignment with the U.S. Attorney's Office, where days can be 12 to 14 hours long.

"I knew, going into it, it was going to be very tough," said Strelka. At that point, he asked the school what possibilities he had because he did not want to discontinue the program. The program director recommended Strelka do graduate independent research, which required working one-on-one with a professor and writing a paper.

Strelka was thrilled; not only was he able to fit in his studies when he could, he respected the professor with whom he was paired. But if he hadn't asked, he never would have known the more flexible course of study was available.

Strelka found his professors generally to be understanding because they know that, like themselves, many of their students are practicing attorneys.

Strelka also sought and received approval from his agency to attend a day class that was directly related to his job. He had to make up the missed work time.

Getting through his Georgetown program called for some problem solving, Strelka said.

"It took a lot of creativity sometimes. I'm glad it's over, but I think it was well worth it."

He now works as a trial attorney for the Justice Department.

Family time

Uchalik, who is single, said that if he also had to factor in family demands such as caring for children, it would add another dimension.

Strelka agreed, saying it wouldn't have been possible to complete the program as fast if he and his wife had children.

Two working mothers said balancing jobs with school is possible, but not without family support.

Dor, the Citizenship and Immigration Services employee in California, said her first son, now age 6, was born at exactly the time she was supposed to be taking a statistics final. She made up the final a week later.

Her second son, now 4½, was born before she completed in 2007 her dual master's in organizational behavior and human resources at Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, Calif.

Since then, Dor has completed the course work for her doctorate, also at Claremont, and had her third child, a baby girl born in January. She will graduate in 2012 after completing three more qualification exams and a dissertation.

She finished one qualification exam by evaluating a nine-month leadership course by the Federal Executive Board. She had previously participated in the leadership course, and presented her evaluation at a European Evaluation Society conference in Lisbon, Portugal.

The master's programs she took were not specifically tailored for working adults, so it took her four years. But the doctorate program she is enrolled in now is geared toward those in the work force.

"The entire culture is very accommodating," Dor said.

While her husband was her "rock," Dor also considered her agency to be part of her support system. CIS approved a schedule that allowed her to work 10 hours a day four days a week so she could attend master's classes on her days off. Still, it is challenging trying to do both, as well as juggle her family responsibilities.

Shaneka Perryman, a contract manager at Los Angeles Air Force Base, can relate. She completed a master's degree in public administration in December at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

The program took her about 2½ years. Knowing a master's degree would open more opportunities, she decided to pursue it soon after finishing her bachelor's degree.

"If I took too much time off, there would be no going back," she said.

Perryman, who has four children age 4 to 13, is still studying for her certified public accountant exam, which she plans to take in parts over the next year.

Support from her husband and her mother are key to being able to balance everything, Perryman said. Her family also moved closer to her job so her commute to both work and school would be shorter.

Good time management is another important factor to succeeding, Perryman and Dor said. Perryman would spend her weekends getting ready for the week, including household chores. That way, when she got home from work or class, she could use the time after her kids went to bed for homework.

Dor talked about the importance of knowing when during the day you're most effective at studying.

Perryman found it easier if she took an online class at the same time as one or two classroom courses. She liked that she could work on the requirements for the online class at any time convenient for her.

Perryman's hard work already is paying off, she said. It allows her to be more competitive for promotions. "When you have a lot of people competing for the same job, that one extra degree can get you in. That's the determining factor."

Perryman offered this approach to writing a thesis: Choose a subject that you care about — her topic was teenage pregnancy and the public agencies and other organizations that help teenage mothers — and build on it in each class you take. Each time, you can do further research to expand your knowledge of the subject. Then at the end, you can pull it all together into a thesis.

"By the time you get to your last class, you're practically done," Perryman said.