Higher education has long included graduate degrees in the United States. But over the last decade or so, the number of students seeking degrees after earning their bachelors has been on the rise. The assumption is that more degrees results in higher salaries, but is that necessarily the case? And is the cost of the degree worth the salary and employment afterwards? A new study from the Postsecondary Education & Economics Research (PEER) Center at American University explores these very questions.
The PEER Center used administrative data from the Texas Education Research Center (ERC) to explore the effectiveness of various graduate degree programs in terms of earnings over time. While graduate degrees often provide much-needed skilled labor (i.e. doctors and lawyers), they also often result in an increased debt burden. Among US adults aged 35-39, the percentage of those with a graduate degree has increased from 31% in 1993 to 42% in 2022.
The average graduate degree results in a 17% increase in a student’s earnings. While this is definitely positive, it varies widely based on the field of study. Many may assume any old graduate degree will result in higher earnings over time. That is definitely not the case. Pharmacy degrees yield a 114% income boost, medicine yields a 110% increase, law a 59%increase, and business a 16% increase. Master’s degrees in curriculum and instruction or clinical psychology result in only around 4% increase in earnings.
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