Pt. 2. The Care and Feeding of Your 5-Year Plan; or, A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Attending Graduate School
If you are a frequent Conglomerate subscriber, then you may be familiar with my work. Part one of this cost-benefit analysis — where I provide a breakdown of the average graduate school stipend — was published in the most recent issue of the Congo. Here I provide part two, the sequel, in which I focus more specifically on the benefits portion of this cost-benefit analysis.
In life (and high school), you are given two options. You can either 1) attend college, get a degree, and make a decent living working a desk job and living a comfortable life, or 2) learn a trade and make a great living working an active job.
If you choose to attend college, you embark on something similar to a long TREK (get it?) where you think you see the end where everything will be smooth and lovely after you get the degree. In reality — by the end — things are nicer, smoother, and lovelier! But it is by no means perfect. Post-college is more akin to reaching a plateau with a nice view, where you have the option to continue climbing or camping out and enjoying the perks of a bachelor's degree while you catch your breath. Should you choose to keep climbing and attend graduate school, you will have another few years of struggle ahead of you before you — inevitably — arrive at a plateau where you will have the same view as before, just from a different angle.
That is not to say that attending graduate school does not have the potential to be life-changing; it is only a warning against entering the system with the idea that achieving an advanced degree provides you with some moral superiority or advantage. About five minutes after crossing the stage, you tend to realize that all degrees are the same: just a sheet of fancy cardstock and a new line for your resume. There are many reasons to attend graduate school, but the idolization of higher education is not one.
It is fair, however, to say that, in many disciplines, people with advanced degrees earn a higher salary than those with only undergraduate degrees.
According to a 2015 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report, the disciplines with the highest bachelor/masters age gap are business, education, healthcare, and the general category of S.T.E.M. With fields broken down into job categories and their reported median wages, a few of the more notable differences include:
Financial Managers: those with a bachelor's degree earn a median annual salary of $78,000, while those with a master's can expect a median salary of $110,000.
Education Administrators (primary through secondary): those with a bachelor's earn a median of $52,000, while those with a master's degree can expect closer to $75,000.
Counselors: with a bachelor's earn a median annual salary of $37,000, while those with a master's earn a median of $50,000.
Using more updated figures, in 2021, CNBC reported on a National Association of Colleges and Employers survey where they reported the differentials of a more varied set of fields and industries. Ranking first in the list was Biology, with a median annual wage of $37,182 for a bachelor's and $69,353 for a master's degree for a differential percentage of 87%. While, by and large, STEM and education fields still reported the highest difference, these outliers also ranked in the top ten:
Ranking fifth on the list: Communication and Media Studies. Those in the field holding a bachelor's degree earned — on average — a median annual salary of $42,345, while those with a master's degree earn closer to $62,166 for a differential percentage of 47%.
At tenth: English Language and Literature/Letters. Those holding only a bachelor's degree earn a median annual salary of $38,597, while those with a master's make closer to $54,102 for a differential percentage of 40%.
These are not nominal figures. The purported wage increase associated with the achievement of an advanced degree is (and should) factor into any post-undergraduate decisions but also should the cost of attending graduate school. You will need to do the math and determine if the wage increase of a master's degree (or Ph.D.) would be worth the cost of continuing your education.
In addition to any wage increases, it is also fair to note the fields and industries which require advanced degrees to achieve entry-level jobs. Traditionally, these fields have mainly included law, medicine, and academia, where people require specialized training and/or doctorates. However, in an increasingly competitive job market, more and more careers have started restricting people without a master's degree.
Now, the majority of administrative and support roles within education require some form of a master's degree. Education administrators (principals and disciplinarians), instructional coordinators, counselors, and even librarians have restricted open positions to master's degree-only candidates as competition for these positions has grown more competitive. While more specialized fields — history, anthropology, foreign languages, etc. — have responded to this demand by shifting requirements from master's degrees to doctorates.
The world is scary right now. The economy is bad, and the job market is insane. All of that is true. But the world has always been scary! The economy has always been bad, and the job market has always been insane. The only difference is that now — as you’re thinking about post-college life — you’re witnessing it firsthand. It is terrifying, but it is going to be okay.
What you need to know is that the decision to attend graduate school is inherently a personal one. It is up to you to figure out your goals and desired outcomes and to do your research to see if you require graduate school to achieve what you want out of life. It is personal, but it is not permanent.
If you are approaching graduation this May, thinking, “I still don’t know!” that is fine. Should you choose to attend graduate school, you can always choose to leave! Should you decide not to go immediately, you can always choose to go back! Graduate school will always be there, just like your potential career. No matter what you choose, your life is not immediately set in stone just because you cross that stage.
