Will A Master’s Degree Increase Your Salary?

One thing you’ll want to consider before deciding if graduate school is for you is whether your financial investment will pay off in the end.

Think about it–getting a higher education costs major money, but it can also lead to a higher salary. According to the US Census, people with master’s degrees make 2.6 times as much as people with high school diplomas. But is the salary you would be able to get with a master’s degree high enough to justify the tuition spent on a graduate school education?

Someone with a bachelor’s degree in Computers on average makes $60,600. If that same person had a master’s degree his earnings could go up to $72,600. That is a difference of $12,000 a year. If your graduate school education cost $50,000, how long would it take you to recoup your investment? Just a little over 4 years, which is actually not bad.

For occupations where the earning potential is higher, such as lawyers and physicians, the pay off for an investment in a higher education pays off even more quickly (even though the cost of medical school can be much higher than your average graduate program). In general, the higher the salary is for the occupation you’re interested in the better investment a graduate degree is.

For fields where the pay is lower, such as teaching and social work, the jump in salary is much smaller, so it would take longer to recoup your educational investment. For some jobs having a master’s degree does not add much marketplace value, and folks with bachelor’s degrees make pretty much the same as those who got their masters. To top it off, those who went straight into the workforce after college have more years where they’re earning money.

Going to grad school can be a great investment in your future, but don’t assume that getting a master’s degree will automatically make you a more sought after job applicant or earn you more money. Do your research first. Basically the questions you want to ask to help you decide if going to grad school is the right path for you are:

Do I really need a master’s degree to do the job you want to do?

Would my degree pay for itself within the next 10 years?

Source: SmartMoney
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