Graduate degrees
Deciding if the hiring advantage is worth the debt
More U.S. workers than ever hold a graduate degree. And yet more well-paying jobs no longer require a college degree at all. In this tight labor market, do college grads need a master’s degree to compete? Maybe not.
1 Advanced degrees
could hedge against a recession Employers are likely reducing education requirements to fill slots, which can be difficult in a tight labor market like this one, experts say. But that doesn’t mean it will last.
“Nobody can quite explain what we’re going through now; I think everyone thinks it’s temporary,” says Gordon Lafer, a professor in the Labor Education & Research Center at the University of Oregon.
Advanced degrees tend to correlate with lower unemployment rates compared with bachelor’s or associate degrees. But generally, any degree acts as a buffer against unemployment.
2 Graduate programs don’t always pay off
What consumers need is data that show program-specific outcomes like graduates’ employment rates and average salaries. These are woefully difficult to find.
The lack of transparency makes it harder for prospective students to make an informed decision. And that could lead some to end up with debt they’re unable to repay.
Graduate loan debt has reached an all-time high, according to data from the federal government and think tanks like the Center for American Progress and Brookings. Unlike undergraduate loans, which have stricter limits on the amount of debt students can take on annually, federal Grad PLUS and private graduate loans allow students to borrow up to the cost of attendance, so it’s easier to rack up debt.
3 Master’s programs are not all equal
Where you get your degree also matters. For graduate students, attending a highly selective university might help them make professional connections to more easily get a job.
But students will need to do some legwork to prevent graduate school from harming their finances more than it helps their employment prospects. Graduate applicants should:
• Start with the graduate program costs on a school’s website.
• Search earnings and entry-level degree requirements for occupations using the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook.
• Scour other tools that list program types and outcomes by degree level including the Wall Street Journal and the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce.