What's the graduate degree? Do you think it will make you better at your job, or do you think it'll just make your base pay higher in an employer's formula? If the latter, don't go, because you can beat that by being good at your job, usually.
The graduate degree is a 15 month masters in applied economics. It may allow me to jump into a higher paying field.
STOP. STOP, STOP, STOP.
"May allow me to jump into a higher paying field?" What?
What?This is awful, bullshit, hand-waving reasoning. If I was your professor in some econometrics course, I would circle this sentence and write NEEDS CITATIONS / SOURCES TO BACK UNSUPPORTED ASSERTION in your paper margin.
This is like when people say, "Well, it's a risk...but it's a CALCULATED risk!"
Bullshit. Insurers make calculated risks. Horse-racing bookies make calculated risks. Real Estate investors following stringent investment deal criteria take calculated risks.
Answer me the following questions. If you haven't already answered these in your own analysis of a graduate degree, I'd suggest you do so:
1) How well is the school ranked
2) How well is your specific program ranked
3) What percentage of your specific program graduates within 3 years
4) What percentage of your specific program finds jobs within their specialty within 12 months of graduation
5) What is the salary breakdown (mean, median, quartiles) for graduates from your specific program, for several recent years? Your estimated salary for when you graduate the program should be based off of the most recent year's median. Don't pick numbers from the top of the range, or use the average, because both of those will be skewed.
6) What is the cost of the program per year, gross (advertised price)
7) What is the cost of the program per year, net (what you'd expect to actually pay when you factor in any scholarships, grants, or other people's money in gifts)? How much debt do you actually think you'll take on as a result of gradschool?
8) How much money are you currently making? How many years will you NOT make that salary while you're in school? Estimate a raise, too (i.e. I will make X in 2016, and 1.05 times X in 2017). This is your opportunity cost.
9) How much money do you think you could realistically make per year if you were really aggressive in looking for new opportunities, getting non-grad school degrees (technical certifications), and promoting yourself? Where would your salary max out?
10) How much do you expect your post-grad school salary to grow, and where do you think it might cap out at? If you're not sure, you can use something like "5 years at 10%, 5 years at 5%, and thereafter at 2-3% to keep pace with inflation". That sounds low but that's actually pretty aggressive, due to compounding.
Jfssiii, my point is this: Grad school is no longer something you can do in America because you don't have your life figured out, or simply because the program interests you. The extremely high price of higher education means that you need to be a
cold, calculating, badass when it comes to deciding on a higher education degree. Don't just wave your hand and say "what's another $33,000 in debt, compared to a potentially higher paying career?" Run the numbers. Be realistic. Think critically about the decision.