Students ponder grad school debate

Millions of college students will likely face a growing dilemma in the next few years: go to graduate school or brave the work force with your undergraduate degree? The decision is made even more difficult as the current economy will not guarantee jobs for everyone in the foreseeable future.

Having the additional education of graduate school will not assure you of a job either, and the potential job pool may be made even smaller as those not attending grad school may have work experience that those who went to grad school do not.

Price and job availability must become considerations for many thinking about going to graduate school. That is why many students decide not to go, including junior English major Pamela Cunneen.

“The only reason I would want to go to grad school is to get connections,” said Cunneen. Cunneen aspires to be film writer and producer. “Why pay 35 thousand dollars for connections when I can go to Atlanta and get a job?”

“You don’t need to go to grad school to learn about film,” she said. “I feel like it’s a lot of money to learn something that you can learn on the job. The only advantage [of going to grad school] is that they don’t have to teach you certain things once you get a job, plus it’s easier to get a job.”

Junior business management major Bethany Sanchez agrees with that advantage, which is one of the reasons she plans on attending graduate school.

“I want to further my education and get a better job,” Sanchez said. “I will have an advantage over people who didn’t go, it looks better to employers. Employers look at that and know that I have more knowledge and experience.”

A survey from ed2010.com showed that a majority of students graduating from grad school made a starting salary of 30 to 35 thousand dollars. A majority of students with just a four year degree had a starting salary of 25 and 30 thousand dollars.

Other findings go on to show that students who have attended graduate school usually get a higher starting salary, but not significantly higher. Also, a lot of salaries, for the first few years, will go towards paying for graduate school.

Economics professor James Arias says that the final decision should come down to a student’s long-term goals, not the state of the economy or the cost of school.

“Some students may be unsure of their career goals, or considering a career that might involve a graduate degree,” Arias said. “In that case, graduate school might be more attractive. A significant cost of attending graduate school is the wages and salary that you are giving up by not working.

This cost may be lower in a recession because it may take longer to find a job. A recession usually affects some job markets more than others so you should try to find out how your specific job market is affected. Whether or not graduate school ‘pays off’ depends on the degree and the career field.”

Arias also said that if your career goal does not involve graduate school, but it is tough to find a job in your field, then students should consider other experiences that may build upon their resume, like an internship or possibly volunteer work.

Are you debating about grad school? Tell us your side and join our forum. Exclusively at www.GCSUnade.com

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 6 2009. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry