Since 1996 the number of people who received their master’s degrees has decreased by 3.4 percent. Many people are going for their master’s because they are not as in high demand and more common than they were in the 1990s. Many people are getting higher degrees and many fields of work are becoming more competitive due to the fact that everyone is at the same skill level.
One field that most people seek higher degrees in is nursing. This is one of the leading fields in which students enter a program and complete it. Across the past five years, enrollments of returning RNs in baccalaureate programs have risen significantly by an average of 983 students per year nationwide, according to a survey by AACN.
“Although people in professions such as doctors and nurses need to advance their education to deal with people’s lives, it is more important for people to work and life experience and then if they want to go back to school it is always an option for them,” junior, Suzanne Euler said.
Most of the time educators and business majors want to make the work place in which they are employed by look better, so they go back to school and receive a degree that makes them more qualified compared to other companies or schools. A lot of times a company will pay an employee to go back to school to get more certifications, this is one way that companies make sure they are top of the line and they feel that is what keeps their competitive edge. However, this is sometimes the only way that people will go back and get there masters.
Marla Moses, an English major at Kings College in Wilkes-Barre, Pa, notices that most students at Kings want to get out into the world and start working to get the experience. Most companies will not consider hiring a person unless they have three years work experience. Therefore, students are more concerned with work experience then getting their master’s degree.
According to a psychologist, “the policies and budgets of many institutions suggest that over the next five years their output will decrease; data on graduate admissions in the spring of this academic year may give some clue. Any predicted net outcome of new programs, maintained programs, and reduced (or reducing) programs would be pure guesswork.” These people fear that people will make some programs too large for the number of people that are in anticipation of continuing their education.
“Right now getting a master’s degree is not crucial because you can get a high paying job without it,” religious studies major Christa Angeloni said.
Posted to the Web By:Mark Garlit
