Is graduate school worth it?

Many students may have found themselves in the scenario of searching up “yearly salary for a …” when picking a major.

As a college student, choosing a major is choosing a career path, it is determining your future, or at least that is how it can feel. The decision typically involves envisioning plans for what you want to do in life once you earn your degree. In most student’s cases, graduate school is a top contender.

However, as CSU tuition increases by 6% each year, it is harder for students to justify the means to attend graduate school if undergraduate schooling is already increasing.

According to the Education Data Initiative, most students come out of a basic master’s degree program $53,920 in debt, not including the debt from a bachelor’s degree. Law and doctorate programs costs can begin over $100,000.

Graduate school for most is what grants a promised salary its veracity. However, in the current climate of the world, while states are sinking into the ocean, national debt is higher than ever and groceries cost are double what they used to be.

Is it really worth it?

Dina Perrone, the dean of graduate studies at Long Beach State strongly advocates for pursuing graduate school, noting the benefits and the payoff.

“Job security is what many students want coming out of a master’s program,” Perrone said.

Graduate school provides the ability to expand a student’s knowledge on a field of interest. In most cases, especially for certain majors, graduate school is one of the only ways of expecting job security coming out of higher education.

Though for many college students, including Perrone, graduate school is a passion chase. Graduate school offers mentorships, research funding and networking with professionals in respective fields. It provides easy ways to dedicate time to a person’s respective educational niche without waiting for funding and tools that outside institutions don’t have readily available in the way that college campuses do.

“Grad school for me shepherded my understanding of the world and what my life could be like,” Perrone said.

Master’s programs also require much less credits, according to Perrone, and can be completed in as little as 18 months if a student attends full time. The programs allow a person to explore change in careers, which can be beneficial for older students, or those that have other life commitments.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median average salary in 2023 for a worker with a bachelor’s degree is around $1,493, whereas a salary for a worker with a master’s degree is $1,737.

Though students are aware of these benefits, the cost of graduate school still dissuades them. Due to the current economic state of the world, many students don’t find the tradeoff worth it.

Not only may it not be worth it, graduate school requires a lot of self discipline, and can be a large time commitment. For some, this can be another reason why they turn them away from it.

This is true for both fourth year criminal justice major Bridget Urzua and Yuritza Ramirez, a third year sociology major.

“There’s a lot of pros and cons, there’s a lot of people that are like, ‘Yes, but it’s tiring and exhausting,’ but I’m like what’s the benefit if you’re exhausted?” Ramirez said.

What graduate school offers can be a great benefactor for a person’s future and help provide numerous opportunities within a student’s niche. However, as tuition increases for undergraduate school, it can be harder for students to justify the means to pursue graduate school.

At the end of the day, Urzua said, “it’s worth it.”

“If I had the guts and the money, I’d definitely do it,” he said.