I’ve been asked more than a few times if I thought
grad school was worth it. More recently,
I had a friend ask me if I felt like the experience and what I learned has been
beneficial to me now, so I decided to share my thoughts on the subject.
The conversation about grad school has changed,
along with the economy. Even while a
bachelor’s degree is becoming the new high school diploma, the decision to
attend graduate school should not be taken lightly.
I was fortunate enough to be hired at Northern
Arizona University for my first job out of college and with that came tuition
benefits. I was able to complete my
master’s degree in a little over a year (not recommended if you appreciate your
sanity) and I was able to pay for it out of pocket. Tuition for employees was a mere $25 per
semester, plus fees, so on average, I paid about $100 per semester for classes.
I think back on my experience and realize that it
was not typical. During two semesters of
my semesters of school, I was a
full-time employee, as well as a full-time student (taking nine credits), in
addition to advising a student organization.
I was able to complete my degree in a fairly quickly because of the
availability of online and in-person classes.
A majority of my classes were completed online, but professors still
worked to make them interactive through platforms such as BlackBoard.
I also didn’t have the cohort experience, meaning
I basically completed my program alone.
I saw a few familiar faces in classes, but I think it would have been
helpful to have a set of classmates to share the experience with. However,
because price was the driving factor for me, I am content with not having this
part of the graduate student experience.
The two jobs I’ve had since completing my master’s
degree have not required a graduate degree, but in many ways, I think it is was
helpful in establishing credibility when recruiting law students and among my
colleagues in the field of higher education.
I encourage anyone contemplating graduate school
to think about how the degree will impact them personally. Depending on the field, attending graduate
school directly after undergrad might be necessary or be the difference between
going or losing the motivation to do so.
For the most part, I recommend work experience first or at least during
graduate school. I benefited from having
real life examples to draw from for class assignments.
The biggest issue with graduate (and professional
school) is how to finance it. Nothing
about it is cheap! As I mentioned before, I was blessed with tuition
benefits. I know other people who have
earned assistantships that covered the cost of tuition and provided
stipends. I know others that have
tuition assistance through their employers and are allowed to spend a maximum
amount towards tuition each year. Most
of the time it balances out to a class or two per semester, depending on the
cost of tuition, but anything helps!
As always, do what works for you, but be sure to
do your research. Weigh all of your
options and decide what you want and need out of a graduate school. If you are planning to attend graduate school
to recapture the your college experience, that is all the reason why you
shouldn’t go. It is not the same on so
many levels – trust me! If you’re really
interested in furthering your education, but aren’t ready to make the commitment,
consider taking graduate courses as a non-degree seeking student or check into community
education courses at your local institution.
