To Grad School or Not to Grad School?

There was once a time when the job market held a wealth of opportunities for students leaving the undergraduate world. Most graduates went straight from school to the workforce, and for the most part there were no alternatives.

Now, with the heightened competition to secure careers and large paychecks, students out of undergraduate school have a more difficult task of deciding what to do next, and many turn to graduate school.

It is speculated that students with graduate degrees earn higher salaries than students who have not gone to grad school, and as most graduate schools offer grants and scholarships, the decision to attend becomes more enticing.

There are serious perks associated with attending graduate school but also benefits of not going, so students must decide which paths will lead to the most fulfilling careers, said Richard Leger, director of Boston University’s Office of Career Services.

“If [students] go to grad school with a solid direction in mind it’s a good idea,” he said. “But simply the act of going to grad school [without a direction] will just be expensive. It’s a lot of work involved rather than getting good grades. It’s thinking seriously and planning on the direction you want your life to take. It’s tricky business.”

SHOW ME THE MONEY

In 2005, the average salary for a liberal arts graduate directly out of undergraduate school is $30,337, which ranks among the lowest of salaries, according to the CNN Money website. But analysis shows this sum is higher than it has been in previous years.

Many firms look to hire students right after recieving undergraduate degrees, Leger said, and a salary depends on more than just a person’s graduate degree.

“It depends on what the demands are,” he said. “Usually [grad school] will increase the salary slightly or more than that, but it depends on what the job itself requires. There are many factors that make your salary.”

According to U.S. News and World Report, a Harvard Business School graduate earns a yearly average salary of $99,848, and a BU business school graduate earns a competitive average salary of $78,299 right out of grad school. Comparatively, an undergraduate degree in business administration earns an employee an average $39,448.

Lou Ureneck, director of Graduate Studies in Journalism and a professor of business and economics journalism in COM, said pay differentiation is often based on the fact that graduate students have more experience in the workforce and are taught specialized skills.

“Students can find jobs following their undergraduate education,” Ureneck said. “The grad students stand a better chance, but jobs are available to both students who hold undergraduate degrees and graduate degrees.

“It depends on the employer and the job,” he continued. “My expectation is that a grad student would be out with a higher pay, and some employers see grad school as an experience. When you have more experience you’re better paid.”

Ureneck said grad school is a way to keep options open over time and is part of a student’s career strategy. Grad school students range from professionals looking to “supercharge” their careers, people looking to make an occupation change and graduates looking to specialize the skills they gained as undergraduates, he said.

And although grad school tuition is often more expensive than undergraduate tuition (a two year graduate school program can cost as much as four years of undergraduate school), Ureneck said the investment can be worth it in the end.

“A graduate education is expensive, but I think it’s cost effective for people who want to build a professional career,” he said. “It gives them an earlier, quicker start at the business and it allows them to build the professional skills they need under the guidance of faculty drawn from the profession.

“It also means delaying one’s life and laying out the money,” he continued. “But it’s an effective way to get started on a career.” Leger said grad school is a significant investment and is not for everyone because some people look to grad school for the wrong reasons.

“The [students must] know what direction they want to go,” Leger said. “Many people go to grad school because they don’t know what they want to do, or to make themselves more marketable. But what they really want to know is how they can best go to employers. Many people make bad assumptions and that frequently costs them opportunities.”

And to create opportunities, the majority of students do not attend grad school directly after undergrad, Leger said, and oftentimes grad schools prefer students to join the workforce before admitting them into enrollment.

“In some instances some grad programs won’t look at people unless they have some sort of experience,” he said, citing a doctorate in psychology as an example. “You’ll find in many cases the median age in grad school is not 22. It’s much higher. In med school it’s mid to high twenties. Many programs are entered by people who already have experience.”

THE PAYCHECK CAN WAIT

Mike Gorzynski graduated from Stanford University in 2000 and immediately found a job in California and then in Boston working in finance.

“I graduated in 2000 and the market was really robust at the time,” Gorzynski said about finding a job so quickly. “I was pretty focused in terms of what I was really interested in. I graduated in a unique time and I’d say it was probably more difficult now [to find a job directly out of undergrad] than back then.”

After working in finance for four years, Gorzynski enrolled in Harvard Business School because, “I’d say it creates more opportunities than if you don’t go.”

“I had a laborious background in undergrad and I’ve been doing finance after,” he said. “I thought business school would provide me with some practical skills that I didn’t learn in undergrad.”

Gorzynski said about half of his graduating friends decided to go to grad school while the rest dove right into their professions. But Gorzynski said he found that an MBA is a valuable commodity he could not pass up.

“There are [companies] who recruit only out of MBA programs, there are places who only recruit out of undergrad and there are some who really don’t care,” he said. “In the U.S. an MBA is pretty important.”

And in class Gorzynski said he finds the graduate school curriculum is far more in depth and pertinent to the working world and less “crunchy liberal arts stuff.”

For Amanda Smyth, graduating from Rutgers University with a journalism degree left her with relatively few options, so she decided to attend COM’s graduate journalism program without dabbling in a career first.

“The [journalism] job market out of undergrad is practically non-existent,” Smyth said in an email. “Getting a job was impossible and it was not the quality of job that I wanted for my career.”

As she nears completion of her year and a half program at BU, Smyth said she feels far more secure than she did right out of undergraduate school.

“I am significantly more confident in getting a job now and have already received job offers based on work I have done while in grad school,” she said. “It is a different situation to be in. I am more mature and in a different mindset than I was in undergrad. The real world is looming and I am now eager to embrace a career because I know I am fully qualified for anything that is thrown in my path, and I owe that to grad school.”

Smyth also added that the price she pays for tuition is high but the experiences and skills she gains far outweigh the costs.

“I am paying approximately $70,000 for my program,” she said. “But, frankly, I would pay more for the quality of education that I am receiving and the opportunities that have been presented to me in the time I have been here.

“I am a huge advocate of higher learning,” she continued. “The degree will practically pay for itself once I enter the job force, and who is so perfect at their major that they couldn’t benefit from an extra year or so of honing their abilities?”