Are graduate degrees really just a fancy, expensive road to nowhere? Does it pay to stay in the hidey-hole of higher education to get a better degree, or will a bachelor’s get you where you need to go? The answers, of course, are: well, it depends. 

We’ve all heard the horror stories. Some of us have even experienced them first hand. Two stories that come to mind for me involve, let’s call them, Patti and Steve.

In the case of Steve, he and I were working as baristas. Steve made fifty cents more an hour than I did, but only because he’d been with the company slightly longer, not because he had master’s degrees in art history and English literature.

Patti and I served pizza at a sit-down, gourmet pizza joint. We made the same amount of money (min. wage + tips). Patti had graduated with her MA in sociology while we were working together, but, alas, her pay didn’t change, nor did she bail for a real job.

Now, let’s keep in mind that better educated people typically do get paid more. This, though, depends completely on their job. In my two little horror stories, neither Patti nor Steve worked in an environment that paid better when they became better educated. Both seemed chagrined when their degrees were brought up in conversation. Was graduate school right for them? Well, it depends.

Steve had no idea where he was going or what he would do with his degrees, so no, not the best idea for him. Patti has applied for several positions with non-profits, which is what she was aiming for in the first place, so grad school was a good idea for her. She just happened to graduate during a recession, whoops.

As I was progressing through the various levels of my own education, I was told that grad school was the place to go if you wanted to stand out. Everyone was going to have a bachelor’s degree; it was educational inflation, and it made sense. Things, however, have changed.

Fewer people are planning to go to grad school, and the cost of a degree isn’t going down just because there’s a recession. If you think it’s time to get a better education, consider going online for it. It’s less expensive, you can work at your own pace, and you don’t have to put up with TA drama. Keep your field in mind, and do your homework before committing to doing classwork for the next several years.