The semester is coming to the close and many seniors must come to a conclusion concerning a potentially life-changing question: whether they should go to graduate school.
The choice is a hard one for some, and with graduation around the counter U of M grads have to start deciding to take the plunge into the job market, or further their education in grad school.
University of Memphis student Prataj Ingrams is one senior who made plans to attend grad school upon her graduation.
“The type of work that I want to do in non-profit requires a little bit more training than just a bachelors,” Ingrams said. “We all know that the more education that you have with a degree the higher you can be in a pay grade scale. Unfortunately, I am going to grad school just because I want to get paid more not because of education or that I love learning but I love to make money.”
Attending grad school does have its perks according to a report titled The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings over an adult's working life, high school graduates can expect, on average, to earn $1.2 million; those with a bachelor's degree, $2.1 million; and people with a master's degree, $2.5 million.
Although grad school offers the possibility to make more money in the long run, it is expensive. The average grad school costs $31,000 per semester depending on school, location, and program.
The financial aspect of graduate school is a major component of the decision to attend grad school or not. Visiting professor at the University of Memphis, David Morris recently had to weigh the same options. Morris had to decide between the University of Oregon and the University of South Carolina for his doctorates degree.
“I will be going to the University of Oregon,” Morris said. “It will pay for my tuition and give me a monthly stipend that will allow me to pay my bills and give me some money to live on, which makes it nice. That was one of the ultimate decisions I had to consider. If I did not get funding from the school, did it make finical since for me to go to grad school? Because in the end, yes it is beneficial, but then you are taking on two years worth of bills and tuition.”
Morris said that making your finial decision to go to grad school students must think about what your career goals are and does it require higher education.
“You don’t necessary have to have a masters, but in some callings you do,” Britney McGhee U of M junior said “Like if you want to be a professor you have to get a higher education degree.”
McGhee said that students need to think about what is best for them and what they want to do in the long run.
“I do want to go to grad school,” Mcghee said. “After these four years I am going to be tired and my major does not require it, and grad school is expensive. Employers, just want to know if you can do the skills.”
