By Lesa 
Juggling work, education, and parenting feels like an Olympic sport that nobody prepared you for. Between tuition payments, childcare costs, and the constant struggle to advance your career while maintaining family responsibilities, the financial pressure can be overwhelming. But here’s something many working students and parents don’t realize: Flexible Spending Accounts can be powerful allies in managing education-related expenses and the childcare costs that make pursuing education possible.
If you’re working while pursuing additional education—whether that’s finishing a degree, earning professional certifications, or developing new skills—understanding how FSAs, such as Benepass’s FSA solution, work in educational contexts can save you thousands of dollars annually while making your academic journey more financially manageable.
Dependent Care FSAs: The Working Student Parent’s Best Friend
For working parents pursuing education, childcare represents one of the largest obstacles to academic success. Evening classes, weekend study sessions, and exam periods all require reliable childcare, and these costs add up quickly. This is where Dependent Care FSAs become transformative.
You can set aside up to $5,000 annually in pre-tax dollars specifically for childcare expenses while you’re working or attending school. The “or attending school” part is crucial—FSA rules recognize that pursuing education counts as a work-related activity, making childcare during class time an eligible expense.
The tax savings are immediate and substantial. If you’re in the 22% tax bracket and use the full $5,000 dependent care FSA, you save $1,100 in taxes. For a parent paying $400 monthly for childcare during evening classes, this benefit alone can make the difference between being able to afford education or having to postpone it indefinitely.
The eligible expenses extend beyond traditional daycare. After-school programs, summer camps while you’re taking intensive courses, and even babysitting costs while you study or attend classes can qualify. Some parents use these funds strategically to pay for extended daycare hours during finals week or intensive training programs.
Healthcare FSAs and the Student Lifestyle
Traditional Healthcare FSAs might seem less relevant to education, but they become incredibly valuable when you understand how student lifestyles impact health expenses. The stress of balancing work, school, and family responsibilities often leads to increased healthcare needs—both physical and mental.
Students frequently delay medical care due to time constraints and financial pressure, which can lead to more expensive problems later. A Healthcare FSA encourages proactive health management by making medical expenses more affordable through pre-tax savings.
Consider the health expenses that commonly increase during intensive study periods: eye strain from increased screen time might require new glasses or computer glasses, stress-related issues might necessitate counseling or therapy, and long study sessions often lead to musculoskeletal problems requiring physical therapy or ergonomic solutions.
Many over-the-counter items qualify for FSA reimbursement with proper documentation, including pain relievers for stress headaches, eye drops for screen fatigue, and first aid supplies for home study spaces. These small expenses add up significantly over an academic year.
Professional Development and Education-Adjacent Expenses
While FSAs can’t directly pay tuition, they can cover health-related expenses that support your educational journey. Ergonomic equipment for your study space, blue light filtering glasses for extended computer use, and stress management tools all qualify for Healthcare FSA reimbursement.
Some employers offer separate Education Assistance Programs that work alongside FSAs to provide comprehensive support for working students. These programs might cover tuition directly while FSAs handle the health and childcare expenses that make education possible.
The combination becomes particularly powerful for parents pursuing healthcare-related education. If you’re studying to become a nurse, physical therapist, or other healthcare professional, your FSA can help manage the increased health expenses that often accompany intensive academic programs while your Dependent Care FSA handles childcare during clinical rotations or study sessions.
Strategic Planning for Academic Success
The key to maximizing FSA benefits during educational pursuits lies in strategic planning that aligns with academic calendars and family needs. Academic years don’t align perfectly with calendar years, so planning FSA contributions requires thinking about expenses across different timeframes.
Consider the seasonal nature of educational expenses. Fall semester might require extensive childcare as you establish new routines, while spring semester might involve different health expenses as stress levels peak before graduation. Summer programs or intensives often require different childcare arrangements that FSAs can help fund.
Plan for the unexpected expenses that education brings. Late-night study sessions might increase your need for eye care, intensive programs might require stress management resources, and changing schedules often disrupt established healthcare routines in ways that increase costs.
Maximizing Value Through Coordination
The most successful student parents coordinate multiple benefits to create comprehensive support for their educational goals. This might involve using Dependent Care FSAs for childcare, Healthcare FSAs for stress-related medical needs, and employer tuition assistance programs for direct educational costs.
Some employers offer additional support specifically for working students, including flexible scheduling that reduces childcare needs or study leave policies that provide paid time for exam preparation. Understanding how these benefits work together helps you create a sustainable approach to balancing work, education, and family responsibilities.
Documentation becomes crucial when using FSAs to support educational activities. Save receipts for all qualifying expenses, maintain records of childcare payments during school-related activities, and understand your employer’s specific requirements for FSA reimbursement claims.
The Long-Term Investment Perspective
Using FSAs strategically during educational pursuits represents more than just short-term cost savings—it’s an investment in your long-term earning potential and career satisfaction. The money you save through FSA tax advantages can be redirected toward educational expenses, emergency savings, or other financial goals that support your academic success.
The stress reduction from having reliable, affordable childcare and healthcare support can significantly impact your academic performance. Students who don’t have to worry constantly about how they’ll afford necessary expenses often perform better academically and complete programs more successfully.
Consider the opportunity cost of not using available FSAs. Every dollar of unused FSA contribution represents money you could have saved in taxes while supporting your educational goals. Over the course of a multi-year degree program, these savings can add up to thousands of dollars that could fund additional courses, better study materials, or reduce student loan dependence.
Making Education More Accessible
FSAs represent one way that thoughtful employers can make continuing education more accessible for their workforce. By helping employees manage the childcare and healthcare costs that often prevent working adults from pursuing additional education, these benefits support both individual career development and organizational growth.
The most effective approach involves treating FSAs as integral components of your educational financing strategy rather than afterthoughts. Just as you plan for tuition, books, and other direct educational costs, planning for FSA-eligible expenses helps ensure that health and childcare needs don’t derail your academic progress.
Understanding and maximizing FSA benefits while pursuing education requires some administrative effort, but the financial and practical benefits make this effort worthwhile. These accounts can transform the financial feasibility of continuing education while providing crucial support for the health and childcare needs that make academic success possible.
For working students and parents, FSAs aren’t just employee benefits—they’re tools for building the career and life you want while maintaining the health and family stability that make long-term success sustainable.