| You see friends going back to graduate school. | | | | Will felt that education would give him a slight |
| Your mother clips newspaper mentions of grad | | | | boost at work and because it would give him a |
| programs and slyly mails them to you with | | | | foundation to make a change in career field easier |
| "thinking of you" post-its attached. You see a job | | | | if he ever wanted to make one. So his solution |
| posting for the position of your dreams, then | | | | was to keep working while enrolling in a |
| notice the "master's degree required." In short, | | | | distance-learning MBA program. Even though it's |
| there are a lot of reasons you're thinking about | | | | the "have-it-all" answer, it hasn't been without |
| going back to school. | | | | sacrifices. He's busier than ever, with weekends |
| In 2004, there were over 2 million students | | | | and evenings now packed with schoolwork. For |
| enrolled in U.S. graduate schools, and it may seem | | | | him, though, it's worth it. "My wife and I don't |
| clear to everyone around you (that | | | | have kids yet," he explains, "so this is the best |
| newspaper-clipping mother of yours, for instance) | | | | time for us to work really hard." |
| that you should be among them. Credentials are | | | | Part-time or distance learning graduate degree |
| great, but you've probably also heard the horror | | | | programs are becoming more and more popular. |
| stories of the "over-qualified candidate." And while | | | | In 1990 only about a third of graduate students |
| Mr. Over-qualified may be an urban legend, the | | | | were enrolled part-time, but today roughly half of |
| tradeoffs involved in either leaving the workforce | | | | them are. For students like Will, doubling up works |
| or continuing to work while earning a degree are | | | | fine, but for others it can be a real burden. With |
| significant. Financially, professionally, and personally, | | | | more graduate school options than ever, there's |
| is graduate school really worth it? | | | | plenty of flexibility to be had, but you'll have to |
| Graduate School to Launch Your Career | | | | take a close look at your personal life and the |
| For Chris, 30, the answer to the "was it worth it" | | | | changes that you'll need to make. |
| question is a definite yes. He went straight from | | | | Graduate School as Reinvention |
| college into a Masters of Teaching (MAT) | | | | Karin, 28, also enrolled in a post-collegiate program |
| program. "My undergraduate drama degree wasn't | | | | while working full-time, but for her, the program |
| landing me any jobs," he says, "and I wasn't | | | | was all about reinvention. She already had an MBA |
| passionate enough about acting to [endure] the | | | | and was working at a job she liked well enough, |
| waiter/actor life for long." A year and a master's | | | | but she couldn't stop thinking "that if I really loved |
| degree later, he started teaching. His degree gave | | | | what I was doing, life would be different." So she |
| him the teaching license he needed, but because it | | | | finally enrolled in a massage therapy program. She |
| was a graduate degree, it also meant his salary | | | | took weekend and evening courses, and now that |
| was several thousand dollars higher than other | | | | she has the experience and education she needs |
| beginning teachers who only held bachelor's | | | | to be a practicing massage therapist, she's said |
| degrees. What's more, each year thereafter his | | | | goodbye to technology management and hello to |
| salary increased at a higher rate than theirs, but | | | | her own massage therapy business. "Now I'm |
| the real clincher was that he got to be a drama | | | | doing what I really want to be doing and building |
| teacher. | | | | my own business, and I'm so excited about it," |
| For many people like Chris, a graduate degree is a | | | | she says. Unlike her old job, she explains, "Here |
| means of launching a career. Academics present a | | | | people come happy and leave happy. It's as much |
| classic argument for a post-graduate degree as a | | | | therapy for me as it is for my clients." |
| PhD is essential. This also holds true for doctors | | | | If you're looking to change over to another |
| and lawyers. However, if you're already working in | | | | field--and you're not alone in the modern |
| your field of choice and are simply looking to get | | | | workforce where mid-career career change is |
| ahead, the question of graduate school may | | | | commonplace--a graduate degree or certificate or |
| become more complicated. | | | | even coursework in a new area can do the trick. |
| Graduate School as a Career Booster | | | | Even with all the upsides of post-collegiate |
| Will, 29, works in hotel management and decided | | | | education, the answer to "is it worth it?" is still |
| the time off in going to graduate school wasn't | | | | complicated. Take a close look at your profession, |
| worth it. "I'd get a bump in pay and position if I | | | | the flexibility of various programs, and your |
| got an MBA, but in my industry, just working | | | | personal and financial situation because when all is |
| those two years would get me more in terms of | | | | said and done, the only real question is "is it worth |
| promotions, experience, and salary." However, he | | | | it for me?" Now quickly, clip this article and send it |
| decided he wanted the extra education anyway. | | | | to your mother. |