Advanced Degrees: Are They Worth It?

The way it is supposed to go is that you spend four years in undergraduate school and two to three years in graduate school to earn the right to make a good living. Unfortunately, this "right" no longer is guaranteed. Today it is more difficult than ever to find a good job after graduate school, which means that thousands of new grads each year are faced with the dilemma of having an advanced degree, a large amount of debt and no job prospects. If this is the norm then is it worth getting an advanced degree? The answer is yes, but you need to get the right one.

My Experiences

I have a number of degrees under my belt in fields of psychology, business administration and business management; however, these degrees in of themselves have not guaranteed that I would find work. Many of my friends who have advanced business degrees are struggling to find consistent work. I have one friend who graduated more than a year ago with a prestigious master's degree in business management who has resorted to temp work in order to make a living, as companies are just not hiring for the long term.

My professional experiences have been somewhat different. I have regular offers for employment and for consultation work. The difference between our two situations is, I believe, the focus of our degree programs. I focused on homeland security and disaster management, which currently are two fields that are experiencing rapid increases in demands for workers. Financial management and investment degree foci, on the other hand, are less in need as many companies in these industries are scaling back on new hires.

Minimizing the Cost and Maximizing the Benefits

I spent, on average, between $425 and $600 per semester credit for the degrees that I earned. In order to pay for my college education I relied on federal grants and financial aid; however, I only borrowed what I needed in order to pay for the degree program and the textbooks. I did not borrow money to live on, as I did not want to accrue too much debt. Instead, I worked full-time throughout my college career. The end product was a lower amount of debt and ten years of solid work experience under my belt. I think that this strategy gave me a competitive advantage over those students that did not work during their college education and who maxed out their financial aid disbursements.

References

https://www.amu.apus.edu