The Masters Trap

[sanantone]

I have no sympathy. Just knowing the demographics of these types of schools, most of these students are not from vulnerable populations. They're applying to PhD programs at Ivy Plus schools; these schools didn't go out and find them. I'm sure they are aware of funded PhD programs, and they probably applied to a funded program at University of Chicago. If you can't get into your school of choice, apply somewhere else. They were so desperate to get into one of their dream schools, they took on $60k in debt.

It's not uncommon for rejected PhD applicants to be offered admission to a master's program instead to improve their GPA and give them more research experience. I turned one down years ago.

I am of the opinion that it's stupid to quit your job and live totally off of student loans to earn a master's degree that doesn't lead to a particular career. If they had quit to earn an MSW, which requires an internship, that would make sense. You know what you're going to do with the degree, it leads to a specific job, there are many openings, and you need the degree for the license. Of course, I will add that you should go to the cheapest school possible.