The next time you're complaining about Austin traffic, consider this: Texas Executive MBA Class of 2012 student Stephanie Carlton flies 3,000 miles roundtrip every other Thursday, from Washington, D.C. just to make it to campus.

Stephanie Carlton commutes 3,000 miles roundtrip from Washington, D.C. to Austin every other week for the Texas Executive MBA. Even with travel costs, the program still costs $20,000 less than her hometown school, Georgetown.

Carlton, a health policy advisor on the Minority staff of the U.S. Senate Finace Committee, told her story to Poets and Quants for Executives as part of their EMBA Road Warrior series:

I had a choice between commuting to UT-Austin and staying in D.C to attend Georgetown for my Executive MBA degree. The University of Texas was attractive because Texas schools have a rich history in my family. My grandfather and sister are both UT graduates, my father teaches at A&M, and my brother is currently working on his MBA at A&M. But really for me, it all came down to which school had the better football team.

More seriously, UT has a strong management program and a strong accounting program—the perfect fit for someone who wants to manage government health care programs more effectively in order to put our federal budget obligations on a sustainable trajectory.

She goes on to explain her grueling travel schedule and how she balances her job, homework and a personal life:

Every other Thursday, I catch a 7:30 evening flight out of Reagan Washington airport and make it to Austin by midnight. It’s approximately 3,000 miles roundtrip and about 10 hours of flying/study time. There’s some economic logic to my commuting decision. Travel costs are roughly $5,000 a year, but with state school tuition, the program was still about $20,000 cheaper with travel than to have stayed at Georgetown in D.C. The Senate also has a modest loan repayment program that helps with some of my tuition costs.

I fit in study time whenever I can. 5 AM to 7AM before work (yes, I am an early riser) or maybe a couple hours at the Library of Congress after work. But I get most of my studying done during the weekends. That still leaves time for a little bit of a social life in the evenings and on weekends, exercise two to three times a week, and church on Sunday evenings.

My job in Washington can be pretty consuming, but traveling to Texas helps me separate work from school. When I’m in Washington, I focus on reforming Medicare and Medicaid. When I’m in Austin, I focus on Dr. Rao’s next corporate finance exam.

Read more about Carlton's EMBA experience at the Poets & Quants website.