Here’s Why You Should Complete Your Masters Degree, and How November 11, 2015Featured, My CareerOff

In general, it is safe to assume that more education is better than less education. If knowledge is power, then education is a powerful tool to have. Formal education gives you an advantage. And in this life, you can use all the advantages you can get. According to the New York Times, most college students don’t earn a degree in four years. The number of people who end up with a bachelor’s degree at all is under 30 percent percent of the population.

Graduate degrees are even more rare. There are good reasons to go for this rare advantage. Here are three:

You Can Complete Your Degree Without Ever Stepping Foot into a Classroom
For many people, navigating classroom dynamics was the worst part about being in school. Not everyone thrives in social situations, especially those where they are not necessarily at their best. Being under pressure to perform in a classroom is enough to put some people off their game.

Fortunately, even at the higher levels of education, you can complete your degree online. Unfortunately, not every online learning system is created equally. Knowing how to choose a good program is just as important as doing well once you are enrolled. There are some common bad practices at the kind of online universities you should probably avoid. These universities:

  • Simply port over content or applications already developed for PCs
  • Introduce a totally new device to facilitate ‘mobile learning’
  • Don’t spend time with your target user groups – assume you already understand their needs
  • Consider that all ‘mobile learners’ are ‘digital natives’

The last one is particularly egregious. Just because someone is completing their education online does not mean that they are tech enthusiast. The Internet has made it possible for many students to be able to go back to school in a way that sets them up for success rather than failure. Just remember to do a little research before paying tuition.

Make More Money
It should go without saying that a higher degree correlates to higher income. But it seems that message has not sank in. Compare the number of people who claim they are not making enough money to the number of people advancing their degree to a Master’s and above. A teacher adding a Master’s degree to their portfolio will also add as much as $10,000 a year to their salary.

Obtaining a Masters Degree in School Counseling at Gwynedd Mercy University, for example, is a good start to the next phase of your career as an educator. Depending on the program, you can often complete your degree in less time than it would take at the typical on-premise program. Adding money to your paycheck while contributing to the development of young people is always a good thing.

Because You’ve Always Wanted to Do It
In the grand scheme of things, there is no better reason to finish a degree than the fact that you always wanted to do it. Whether or not it adds a single dollar to your bank account, the satisfaction of finishing what you start is reward in and of itself.

It can even go well beyond a matter of personal pride. It is difficult to sell your kids on the value of a formal education if you, yourself, have not achieved the goal. It is not much of a message if you settle for the least you could do. Reaching higher for a graduate degree gives you the moral authority you need to be an example to others of the value of completing a formal education.

There are many other good reasons to complete a Master’s degree. The important thing to know is that when it comes to technology, you probably already have much more than what you need to enroll and be successful in such a program. A computer and a reliable Internet connection should do the trick. The only thing you need to bring to the table is the will to finish what you start. All you really have to master is yourself. For everything else, a degree program awaits.

Photo by Lucky Business | Shutterstock

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