A few years ago, going to graduate or professional school seemed like a smart way to wait out a miserable economy. Students who picked up an extra degree may now be wondering if it was worth the time and expense. In terms of salary expectations, the answer is yes. The Census Bureau reports that workers with a master’s degree earn an annual $74,217, on average, compared with $58,762 for bachelor’s degree recipients and $32,812 for high-school-only graduates. Professional degrees bring in an average of $128,578.
But the average grad-school debt for students who borrow tops $30,000 for a master’s degree and approaches $90,000 for a professional degree, not including undergraduate loans. If your monthly payment exceeds 10 percent of your monthly income, you could end up struggling financially for the sake of that degree. Vet the prospects for your profession before spending (or borrowing) to go to graduate school.
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— Law degree. New hires of law-firm associates are creeping back up. More than 87 percent of law students who participated in summer programs were offered jobs in 2010, an 18-percent bump over 2009, according to the National Association for Law Placement. Still, hiring remains significantly below prerecession levels, and competition for jobs will be fierce. As for salaries, the biggest paydays are at big private firms, where new lawyers earn a median annual salary of $160,000. Public-interest attorneys earn the least, with median starting salaries of $42,000 to $50,000, according to the NALP.
— Medical degree. The medical profession suffered its share of economic heartburn in the aftermath of the recession. But no worries: Physician incomes are still among the highest in the country, ranging from $175,000 to $600,000, depending on the specialty. And job prospects will be healthy throughout the decade. The most sought-after (but not the highest-paid): doctors who practice in rural and low-income areas and those who specialize in age-related illnesses.
— MBA. Employment prospects for MBA grads rebounded after suffering a dip in 2009; nine in ten members of the class of 2010 were employed after graduation, according to the Graduate Management Admission Council. But getting those offers was no walk in the office park: Grads sent out more than 33 applications, on average, and submitted to more than six interviews before getting a bite. Nearly half of the class reported applying for jobs that offered less money than they had hoped for. As for the future, job growth for business management analysts over the decade should be strong, and so should the competition among job seekers. Many firms won’t even look at a candidate who lacks an MBA.
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