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On the value of Grad school...
#1
Grad School Is Attractive, Expensive and Not Usually Worth It - TheStreet

Basically the article seems to attempt to steer you away from Grad school unless you have a great plan on how to pay for it....largely decent advice IMHO.

Of course it's an article slanted towards full time, presumably B&M schools, and not really geared towards the alternative methods and schools we generally talk about around here like WGU, Patten, and AMU/APU
MBA, Western Governors University February 2014
BS Charter Oak State College November 2011
AS in EMS August 2010

I'm always happy to complete the free application waiver for those applying to WGU (I get a free gift from WGU for this).  Just PM me your first/last name and a valid email so I can complete their form.

Thread; COSC AS using FEMA http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...total.html
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#2
I'm attending a full-time brick-and-mortar school and my degree will cost me less than $12,000. Granted I am taking classes online. If people are willing to give up the big names schools and place value in front of prestige, they will be able to find affordable education.
Don't miss out on something great just because it might also be difficult.

Road traveled: AA (2013) > BS (2014) > MS (2016) > Doctorate (2024)

If God hadn't been there for me, I never would have made it. Psalm 94:16-19
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#3
Soliliquy,

What school are you attending?
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#4
Decius73 Wrote:Soliliquy,

What school are you attending?

Missouri State University, online classes are billed at the same rate as in state tuition.
Don't miss out on something great just because it might also be difficult.

Road traveled: AA (2013) > BS (2014) > MS (2016) > Doctorate (2024)

If God hadn't been there for me, I never would have made it. Psalm 94:16-19
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#5
I made sure my master's degree was cheap. The price is in my signature.
Graduate of Not VUL or ENEB
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Intro Psych 70, US His I 64, Intro Soc 63, Intro Edu Psych 70, A&I Lit 64, Bio 68, Prin Man 69, Prin Mar 68
DSST
Life Dev Psych 62, Fund Coun 68, Intro Comp 469, Intro Astr 56, Env & Hum 70, HTYH 456, MIS 451, Prin Sup 453, HRM 62, Bus Eth 458
ALEKS
Int Alg, Coll Alg
TEEX
4 credits
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Fed Inc Tax, Sci of Nutr, Micro, Strat Man, Med Term, Pub Relations
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SL
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#6
Cost for mine was three semesters at $3250 or $9750 total. All but $750 of that was covered by my employer. WGU includes all books and misc. in that price.
MBA, Western Governors University February 2014
BS Charter Oak State College November 2011
AS in EMS August 2010

I'm always happy to complete the free application waiver for those applying to WGU (I get a free gift from WGU for this).  Just PM me your first/last name and a valid email so I can complete their form.

Thread; COSC AS using FEMA http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...total.html
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#7
The author seems to be mostly talking about academic graduate schools, and not professional degrees. In that case, I largely agree. Graduate degrees that don't directly lead to a new job or promotion seem to mostly be a luxury item - if you can't afford it, don't go.

Entry level professional degrees are a totally different thing though. Becoming a qualified clinician, therapist, lawyer, teacher - a lot of these programs are entry level Masters and/or Doctorate programs now, as bachelor's degrees get more and more devalued. It's still worth being sensible about cost of course (don't go $400k into debt for a gorram teaching degree, for instance), but the return on investment is much more predictable.

I'm not sure where the MBA lands on that scale though.
DSST | Astronomy - 68 | Anthropology - 73 | HTYH - 450 | Intro to Comp. - 454 | Religions - 459 | Lifespan Dev. - 419 | Counseling - 409 | Substance Abuse - 456 | Geography - 463 | Environment & Humanity - 463 | CLEP | A & I Lit - 75 | Humanities - 57 | Psych - 64 | Western Civ I - 57 | College Comp. - 65 | College Math - 61 | Ed. Psych - 65 | US History I - 68 | Soc Sci & History - 69 | Western Civ II - 53 | US History II - 61 | UExcel | College Writing - A | Social Psych - B | Abnormal Psych - B | Cultural Div. - B | Juvenile Delinquency - B | World Pop. - A | Psych of Adulthood & Aging - A | Straighterline | Intro to Philosophy - 75% | American Gov. - 89% | Macroecon | Microecon | Bus. Communication | Bus. Ethics | Cultural Anth. - 96% |

AAS in Intelligence Operations Studies - Graduated 2015!
BA in Social Sciences & Humanities from TESU - in progress

186 credits and counting...
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#8
Leherself Wrote:The author seems to be mostly talking about academic graduate schools, and not professional degrees. In that case, I largely agree. Graduate degrees that don't directly lead to a new job or promotion seem to mostly be a luxury item - if you can't afford it, don't go.

Entry level professional degrees are a totally different thing though. Becoming a qualified clinician, therapist, lawyer, teacher - a lot of these programs are entry level Masters and/or Doctorate programs now, as bachelor's degrees get more and more devalued. It's still worth being sensible about cost of course (don't go $400k into debt for a gorram teaching degree, for instance), but the return on investment is much more predictable.

I'm not sure where the MBA lands on that scale though.

The MBA is considered a professional degree only because it's an applied subject, but it's different from the ones that specifically qualify you for an occupational license. Whether you'll get a good ROI with an MBA is hit or miss unless you attended one of the top business schools.
Graduate of Not VUL or ENEB
MS, MSS and Graduate Cert
AAS, AS, BA, and BS
CLEP
Intro Psych 70, US His I 64, Intro Soc 63, Intro Edu Psych 70, A&I Lit 64, Bio 68, Prin Man 69, Prin Mar 68
DSST
Life Dev Psych 62, Fund Coun 68, Intro Comp 469, Intro Astr 56, Env & Hum 70, HTYH 456, MIS 451, Prin Sup 453, HRM 62, Bus Eth 458
ALEKS
Int Alg, Coll Alg
TEEX
4 credits
TECEP
Fed Inc Tax, Sci of Nutr, Micro, Strat Man, Med Term, Pub Relations
CSU
Sys Analysis & Design, Programming, Cyber
SL
Intro to Comm, Microbio, Acc I
Uexcel
A&P
Davar
Macro, Intro to Fin, Man Acc
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#9
sanantone Wrote:The MBA is considered a professional degree only because it's an applied subject, but it's different from the ones that specifically qualify you for an occupational license. Whether you'll get a good ROI with an MBA is hit or miss unless you attended one of the top business schools.

I think an MBA can sometimes take you higher in a corporation than a Bachelor's degree, but it just depends on so many things. I say get a bachelor's degree, start your career, and THEN consider going back to get the MBA if you find that you really need it for some reason later on. Most companies don't expect a 22-year old recent college grad coming to work in finance or accounting or HR to have an MBA, but if you want to move very high on the corporate ladder, then you might be expected to get one later on. But that might not be until you were 10-15 years into your career.

Many companies will pay for it as well, another reason to wait. Some very large corporations even do a cohort program, and put a bunch of specially chosen mid-level managers through the MBA program together. They may even have classes onsite.
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#10
I would say this is pretty slanted as well. In my case I'm under-employed right now (a bit by choice since I need time for the capstone), though during summer I was pretty well over employed but under-paid. After my injuries left me out of work, and many months after I signed up with DegreeForum, it took a few years to prove my injuries and receive assistance from DVR along with the scholarship. Its now been years since my initial injury and up until fall '14 I wasn't employed at all. That was essentially years of lost time in work experience, and depending on which job you compare to I am only making about 10% now of what I used to make per hour. I plan to go for a masters degree because it will give me a credential that can help me sort of make up for the lost years, also check off a box that is generally needed for an Executive Director or CEO position, and give me certain skills so I won't need to be asking other people how to make things happen - or getting others to invest. While some people may also balk at the idea of going for a masters at prestigious school, in my case it would probably be very helpful because I need to quickly create a very solid professional network, since my previous line of work wouldn't be at all helpful in the future since it's pretty much like the work I'll be doing is calling out all of the shortcomings and law bending of my previous field. The prestigious school could in my case also help me look more legitimate on my rÃsumÃ, which is important for someone coming out of my line of work which was legal but often not viewed as legitimate because of all the law bending that often happened. Sometimes its all a matter of personal situation.
MBA, Walden University (In progress - 60% done)
2016 TESU, BA-LIBST, Emphases in Multimedia Comm./Human & Social Services
TESU TECEPS: Abnormal Psych PSY-350, Psych of Women PSY-270, Sales Mgmnt MAR-322, Advertising MAR-323, Marketing COM-210; Capstone w/ Ciacco
Other Sources: CLEP, Art Portfolio, 3 Comm. Colleges, 2 Art Colleges,  FEMA, AICPCU Ethics
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