Esohe Uhuangho
Dr. Weaver
English 1102 Section 400
27 April 2021
MP4 Research Paper:
While master’s degrees are not a necessity for job acquisition or most career paths, they provide sufficient conditions that place candidates looking for jobs at a higher competitive advantage or position over other candidates with lesser educational qualifications. Additionally, employers of labor often use these qualifications as a critical success criterion for candidates seeking employment. But is the cost of a master’s degree worth the payoff in terms of getting employed? In the class reading “I Was a Low-Income College Student. Classes Weren’t the Hard Part” by Anthony Abraham Jack, he says, “We like to think that landing a coveted college spot is a golden ticket for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. We think less critically about what happens next.” This relates to my topic in the sense that after college being disadvantaged doesn’t just go away. Although students may make their way through college on loans, or scholarships, like the author, it’s still a struggle. If a disadvantaged student decided they wanted to go back to school to get better pay they would have to make sure that it would be worth it and if it, wasn’t they would just end up with debt and not enough income to pay it off.
There are a lot of reasons someone could go back to get their masters including more opportunities, advancement in your career, and even research but the widely known reason is for higher pay. According to The Fiscal Tiger, a master’s degree can cost $30,000 to $120,000 total. Pay raises after getting a master’s degree depending on your career field. In careers in engineering and business, a master’s degree can increase their salary up to $80,000. According to the Bureau Labor of Statistics in 2012-2013 people with business jobs saw a 36-89 percent increase in their salaries after earning a master’s degree. In careers like psychology, master’s degrees only have a pay raise if they have added experience in the field, and in STEM fields, master’s degrees are basically required to get a well-paying job in the field. The price of a master’s degree depends on what school you’re going to, the location, and what degree you’re pursuing. Public institutions are usually less costly compared to private institutions.
Cost alone could be a deciding factor for whether a person would want to go back to graduate school. Sometimes the pay raises from getting a master’s degree aren’t enough to cover the cost of going to school and a lot of people end up in debt. According to The Washington Post, the average graduate borrowed $57,600 for a graduate degree in 2012. Just like pay raises and prices of master’s school, Graduate degree debt depends on the type of degree you get. The average MBA debt is $66,300, Law school debt is $145,550, Medical school debt is $201,490, and Dental school debt is $292,169.
Works Cited:
Cromwelle, Joy. “Is a Masters Degree Worth It? [2021 Ultimate Guide].” MyDegreeGuide.com, 5 Mar. 2021, www.mydegreeguide.com/college-worth/masters-degree-worth-it/.
Marte, Jonnelle. “Is Graduate School Worth the Cost? Here’s How to Know.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 3 May 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/news/get-there/wp/2014/12/02/is-graduate-school-worth-the-cost-heres-how-to-know/.
StudentJob UK. “Is Pursuing a Master’s Degree Really Worth It?: StudentJ…” StudentJob UK, www.studentjob.co.uk/blog/1853-is-pursuing-a-master-s-degree-really-worth-it.
Mayer, Cole. “Getting A Master’s Degree: Is It Worth the Cost?: Fiscal Tiger.” Fiscal Tiger | Better Information. Better Finances. Better You., 28 Feb. 2019, www.fiscaltiger.com/is-it-worth-getting-masters-degree/.