A Masters Degree Education – Is It Worth It?
There are many benefits to a masters degree education. Is it worth the investment of your time, effort, and money? What are some of the things you get out of masters degree education?
- Work on advanced projects. Universities often work with cutting edge technology and are part of developing and working with the earliest forms of new technologies.
- Find teaching opportunities. Not everyone is suited to teaching, but if you are interested in teaching, getting a master’s degree is a good first step. With a master’s degree, you can teach at 2-year colleges and some 4-year schools. The general rule is you must have at least a degree higher than the type of course you are teaching, or the terminal degree (highest possible degree) for that field. For instance, to teach at 2- and 4-year schools, you must have at least a master’s degree. For teaching master’s level classes, you must have at least a Ph.D. If a Ph.D. is the terminal degree for your program, which it is for most U.S. programs, you can teach any level with a Ph.D., including Ph.D.
- Overhaul your education. If you’ve been out of school for a while, you may find that getting a master’s degree gives you the opportunity to get caught up on the latest theories and technologies, so your knowledge is up-to-date, making you more marketable in your career field that ever before.
- Find research prospects. Whether you choose to follow your own research theories or someone else’s, a graduate degree or even a doctorate may be required to participate in funded research.
- Get international recognition. Even more than community recognition, if you make a really revolutionary find, you could gain international acclaim or even a Nobel prize. You never know what can happen when you open your mind to every possibility.
- Get community recognition. If your theories lead to new discoveries, you’ll get recognition.
- Deepen your learning. Grad school can give you opportunities to delve into areas you find fascinating and explore your own theories and ideas.
- Career change. If you have a bachelor’s degree and you have been working in a field you find unrewarding, getting a master’s degree gives you the ability to not only move into a better job but a better job in a different field.
- Move forward in your career. After earning a master’s degree, you have a much broader array of job choices than with no degree or just a bachelor’s degree.
- Access to advanced equipment and tools.Likewise, working in a grad program might grant students access to the newest, most advanced equipment on campus—such as the astronomy lab, supercomputers, rare books, and even the great minds among the staff and students.
- Free tuition. If you get a job as a teaching or research assistant, you may get free tuition and a stipend in return for your work. Likewise, may universities offer their staff free tuition, and their alumni a discount, so if you got your undergrad there, you may get a discount on your graduate studies.