Is a Master's Degree Worth It?

The New York Times has an interesting piece on whether or not a master's degree is worth it. Basically they put this question to four people, a department chair at an ivy league school, a former college president, an MSN money columnist, and an economist.

Excluding professional master degrees like an M.B.A. and M.F.A., the prevailing thought is that a masters degree is not always worth the time and cost.

The department chair:

Some graduate degree programs can be very helpful for certain careers but many are not. And, remember, what is most interesting is not always most practical. Be sure you consider your motives and goals carefully. Do not simply assume that another degree after your name is going to open doors....

Bottom line — and much of this is about the bottom line — consider your needs carefully, research your options thoroughly, don’t believe everything you read or hear and invest your time and money prudently.

The former college president:

Earning an M.A. degree can be fun; it can provide knowledge; and can stretch the imagination. A cynic might conclude that the M.A. degree is the stepchild of the university community, is increasingly a commodity offered by universities in order to earn tuition dollars devoted to the Ph.D. programs. But in the marketplace, it adds to one’s personal narrative. It makes one more interesting....

In a bad job market does it make sense for students to seek a safe harbor and earn a master’s degree? Absolutely: if they can afford it; if the debt from their previous academic work is not too great; if someone else is paying; if they seek to reinvent themselves. If, if …

The MSN columnist:

In some fields, such as business or engineering, a graduate degree typically boosted income by more than enough to justify the cost. In others — the liberal arts and social sciences, in particular — master’s degrees didn’t appear to produce much if any earnings advantage. The Census Bureau has updated the data I used a few times since then, and the results are similar: certain graduate degrees just don’t seem to pay off.

The economist:

Not all degrees are equal — a master’s in anthropology or art probably has less incremental earning power than a M.B.A. or advanced engineering degree. If graduate enrollments soar as more decide to stay in school, the newly minted master’s graduates may find the job market not all that much better in a couple of years than at the present, and end up taking a relatively low paid job — and facing much larger student loan debts than otherwise.

This article hit close to home for me. I have one masters degree and I'm about to pursue another. I also recently made the hard decision not to pursue a doctorate. My first masters is a M.A., and I've found that many people often believe it is a professional degree (to my benefit). Actually, it is not. The masters program I will be starting in the fall is a professional degree and this fact is one of the reasons I'm pursing it.

My M.A. is in a social science and I came out $20,000 in debt. Do I regret this? Not at all. I wouldn't have been able to find my current job without it and it did increase my salary. Do I wish I could have done it for cheaper? Definitely. My second masters will only cost me books and fees - meaning I'll finish without any more debt. How do I feel about this one? Even more excited than the first, and I'd be lying if I said the cost doesn't factor into this excitement.

While I don't regret my decision to pursue higher education, I would be the last person that suggests someone should further their career by getting a masters in a field where the terminal degree is a Ph.D. - instead I would suggest going for the Ph.D. You'll have better career opportunities and be respected by your peers.

I am not talking about M.B.A, M.F.A., M.P.A. M.S.W., and other professional masters degrees. They are very different than an M.S. in History or an M.A. in Classics. And then there are the degrees I know nothing about, like masters in international development and human rights. Where do these fall?

When it comes to the larger question about advanced degrees I think as a society we expect certain requirements for certain jobs, when in reality those requirements are not necessary. Again, don't get me wrong, I would never assume that you could be a doctor without an M.D. or a D.O., or a lawyer without a J.D., but do you really need a doctorate to be an educational administrator? If you are not teaching or doing research (and most doctorate programs don't even teach how to teach) is a Ph.D. or a Ed.D. necessary for your day-to-day duties? I'm doubtful.

What a doctorate does give you is respect. But why should someone who has spent 10 years in school and almost none of those working full-time be given more respect than someone who has worked for 30 years, but doesn't have that degree? And this is where I get frustrated.

So my advice - before pursuing any degree make sure you know what you need to have to be promoted and respected in your field. I didn't really understand this until I was knee deep into my field. While I haven't been in my field long enough to be pigeonholed, I've decided to pursue a professional masters to learn more about the broader picture. Hopefully I'll eventually move from where I am into a place where I don't need a doctorate to end up in senior management.

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