Why should I go to graduate school?

Expertise

If you are strongly interested in a particular field of study, whether it be Modern Literature or Nuclear Astrophysics, going to graduate school will let you pursue that field to the limits of current knowledge. You will become an expert in a particular field--an exciting and stimulating prospect.

Expanded Opportunites

Attending graduate school will generally increase your ability to choose what you want to do with your life and will make your work more enjoyable. Over 80 percent of people who complete graduate degrees are happy with their decision to attend graduate school.

Academic Career

If you want to teach at a university or college, you will need a graduate degree--a Ph.D. degree in nearly all cases. The only exceptions are faculty positions at community colleges (approximately 80 percent of community college faculty have master's degrees) or those in fields in which the terminal degree is a master's degree, such as the Master of Fine Arts degree in the visual and performing arts.

Leadership

Obtaining a graduate degree will expand your opportunities for leadership in the workplace. This, in turn, makes it more likely that you will have management responsibilities for other people's work and greater freedom to conduct your own work. That extra sense of responsibility and freedom can be both exciting and challenging.

Income

Finally, a graduate degree usually increases recipients' earning power, sometimes quite significantly. In general, the higher the degree, the higher the salary. Individuals with master's degrees earn on average about $20,000 more per year than those with bachelor's degrees; similarly, those with Ph.D. degrees earn about $20,000 more than those with master's degrees. Of course, these are just average figures; your own success will ultimately depend on a variety of factors, including your performance and the field you choose to study. Visit the following web site for more on this topic: http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/p23-210.pdf

Resources & Articles Home