Five reasons to consider going to graduate school

Because graduate school is a huge personal and financial investment, university advisors will tell you that grad school is a great option if you have a specific goal in mind. It’s not a wise investment if you’re feeling restless, want to explore your interests or if you’re having trouble finding a good-paying job.

There are five basic reasons you should consider graduate school:

1. The field you want to practice in requires it
2. The field you’re in generally requires it for higher earnings potential or career advancement
3. You want to make a career change and grad school will help
4. If the graduate program or your employer will pay for you to go
5. You have enough in savings or income to cover tuition expenses

Read on to learn more about how to use this advice to make your graduate school decision.

Ten steps to take before applying to graduate school

1. Understand how graduate degrees relate to your work.

Graduate degrees work in three basic ways and whether you should get one depends on the field you are in, your budget and your professional goals. Beyond the cost investment, your graduate degree can take anywhere from two to six years to finish (or more!) depending on the type of degree you are getting and your field.

It’s a good idea to know your options before picking one. You want to make sure the graduate degree you commit to will actually pay off. You can’t know for sure, of course, but you can get an idea through research.

Here are the three basic kinds of graduate degrees:

• First professional degree
  A first professional degree is generally the minimum degree you need to practice in a certain field. Many fields require only a bachelor’s degree as a first professional degree, but some fields — like medicine, psychology and law — require graduate degrees in order to practice.
  
  If you’re going into a field that requires a graduate degree to practice, think about starting to budget and planning ahead while you’re still an undergraduate. Many programs now offer combined 5-year bachelor’s/master’s degrees, which can save you time and money.

• Advanced professional degree
  An advanced professional degree is a specialized program that gives you more training in your field. Generally, you complete it after you finish a first professional degree. If you got a bachelor’s in teaching or business, a master’s in teaching or a master of business administration would be your advanced professional degree.
  
  The best way to evaluate if you need this kind of graduate degree is to find out if the majority of people in your field have one. Have a specific goal in mind for what the degree will help you accomplish before you enroll. And, if you can, find out from your employer if having the degree will lead to higher earnings potential and career advancement.

• Terminal degree
  A terminal degree is the highest level of graduate degree you need to receive in your field, either to practice or to teach. If you are a doctor or psychologist, that would be a M.D. or Ph.D. Before you jump in, research the kinds of degrees most of the people have in your field and whether a terminal degree is necessary. This will give you an idea of whether or not a terminal degree is a worthwhile investment. It may not be — and that’s okay.

2. Know how much your field pays in salaries.

If you decide you need graduate school to advance in or change your career, it’s time to research what school you should pick — different schools costs different tuition amounts, but not always for better quality.

You don’t want to pay premium private school tuition for a human services field like teaching or social work where your pay may not be enough to cover your student loan payments. To know how much you should spend, take a look at what the average person in your field makes. Also look at the average salary of the top-most positions and entry-level positions. Your field’s professional association is a good source for this information.

When you have a good range, take a look at the tuition and fees of your grad program to get an idea of the total cost. If you’re paying more in tuition than the average person makes in many years, you may need to think about finding a different school with lower tuition.

3. Research program rankings and faculty. 

If you’re going to spend years and dollars on graduate school, it is a good idea to set your sights on a program that is well-ranked and has professors who are well-known in the field. Also take time to research the other students getting into and graduating from the program. Call or email the programs you are considering and ask to talk with students and alumni. When you talk to them, think about whether they are the kinds of students you would want to learn with and from.

The great thing about graduate school is that the students bring their own experience and ideas to create a collaborative environment. If a program is diverse, you’re more likely to have lots of eye-opening, rewarding experiences.

Know the size of the program you want, too — do you want big classes or small, intimate ones? You can call programs you are interested in to ask to visit the program and attend a class. This is great way to get an in-person feeling for what classes are like. Since it's such a big investment, test drive prospective grad programs like you would a car.

Since it’s such a big investment, test drive prospective grad programs like you would a new car.

4. Consider a graduate certificate instead of a degree.

If you don’t have a specific goal but really want to go back to school, you might consider a graduate certificate. Generally you can finish these programs in half the time, so they cost less. Especially if you work in a field where a graduate degree isn’t required, a certificate might be a nice boost for your resume without breaking the bank.

5. Calculate the “opportunity cost” of going back to school. 

If you work full- or part-time now, calculate how much you might lose in earnings during the years you are in grad school. This isn’t something that should make your decision for you, but it could be information that you put in your pros / cons list to help you decide. If you could spend two to six years advancing in your field with on-the-job experience, maybe you don’t want to break that to go to grad school full-time. Part-time or evening options might be better for you.

6. See if you can get funding.

Sometimes graduate programs will award you funding in the form of grants, scholarships, tuition breaks, teaching assistantships or research fellowships. Assistantships and fellowships are part-time jobs within the department in which you assist with teaching and research in exchange for a small financial stipend, tuition breaks or both. Master's programs vary in their level of funding. The general rule with doctorate programs is you focus on programs that will pay for  most or all of your tuition — this is very common in doctorate-level education.

• See also: Scholarships, Grants, Work study

Sometimes employers offer tuition assistance as part of their benefits package. Look for ways to get funding from both your employer and your potential school. If you have a good relationship with your employer, you might be able to work out a part-time or consulting kind of deal with them while you’re in school. If you want to work while in school, it may be worth asking.

7. Compare the total costs of the programs you’re considering.

Once you decide whether to apply to grad school and which schools you want to apply to, visit their websites and find the total cost of the tuition. Unlike undergraduate programs, tuition usually varies depending on the degree you are getting and even can change based on the location of your classes, whether you are taking evening or daytime classes or if you are going part- or full-time.

If you can’t find the information easily on the programs’ websites, call them. You also want to estimate the cost-of-living in the city or town that your chosen programs are in. Some schools list this online — if not, call and ask. Budget for normal living expenses on top of tuition and other school-related fees like books, supplies, technology, commuting, etc.

Calculate what it might cost to live in graduate student housing (if it’s available) versus a rental apartment or another living arrangement. Once you have a total figure for each school and any possible money they might be offering you, you have something to compare when your offer letters start arriving in the mail.

8. Write a budget for the years you are in school.

Once you’ve selected a school and confirmed you will attend, start budgeting for your in-school costs, your living expenses, any costs related to relocating and other costs. The goal is, as much as possible, to have more money coming in than going out. If your student loans are enough to help you pay for living expenses, make sure you use them wisely. Don’t take out extra for non-essential things, especially things that lose value like cars, vacations and other things. You can include your student loan money as temporary income, but try to cover the essentials with money that you don’t have to borrow if you can.

As a general rule, we recommend you don’t put school costs on credit card. It’s easy to become quickly overwhelmed by credit card debt. If you’re in over your head and student loans don’t seem to cover your needs, the first step is to schedule an appointment with your Financial Aid office to ask for more help. And look for other ways to squeeze money, like selling your car (if you don’t need it) or picking up campus jobs like tutoring, working on campus or assisting your professors.

• See also: Budgeting, Credit cards

9. Get health insurance. 

Usually there are student health insurance plans available at school for full-time students. Sometimes schools require full-time students to buy the minimum student insurance plan. You can pick the option that’s best for you — but avoid going without coverage, just in case of sickness or injury.

• See also: Health insurance

10. If you put pre-tax money in a retirement plan, convert it to a Roth IRA.

Okay, this one seems a little out-of-the-blue. But, if you put any money in a pre-tax retirement plan, like a Traditional IRA, a 401(k) or 403(b), you can convert it to a Roth IRA and possibly get tax savings. Because that money is put in pre-tax, you would have to report it when you convert. But, if you expect to be low- or no-income during school, you may not have to owe any taxes.

The real reason for doing this is that when you take money out of Traditional IRAs, 401(k)s and 403(b)s in retirement, it gets taxed. But, if you can make the conversion while you’re low- or no-income and don’t get taxed on it, you might turn your pre-tax money into never-taxed money — you get away tax-free.

• See also: IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s and 457(b)s

Links we like

Here are a couple online features you might find useful:

• U.S News and World Report grad school guide:
  grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools
• U.S. News and World Report paying for grad school:
  www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/top-graduate-schools/paying
• Peterson's grad school guide: www.petersons.com/graduate-schools.aspx
• Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA): www.fafsa.ed.gov