The other day I saw this article (below) that really made me feel like knowingly going
into debt to get my masters is worth the investment and stress. The program that I
am getting is ranked 3rd on the list of top paying jobs with this
masters degree. I was finally able to start relaxing about going back
across the country for school.
Reading this article has helped me put that extra drive and determination to be the best and to succeed. Here are questions I have asked myself when a change is happens...
Where do I want to be?
Am I pushing myself to reach my potential and goals?
Am I ready to be inconvenienced on this journey?
Ask yourself these questions and see if you have accomplished all of them with your current job/school or new job/school.
For me I have taken the first steps to have a few years of inconvenience and stress for decades of enjoying the spoils and peace of mind from the hard work and sacrifices I will make.
By Charyn Pfeuffer, PayScale.com
If you’re looking for the most bang for your postgraduate educational buck, some master’s degrees yield bigger financial returns than others.
Katie Bardaro, lead analyst at online salary database PayScale.com,
says that many of the top-paying master’s degrees are in technical
fields such as engineering and computer science. “These are areas where
it pays to get additional training and build upon the knowledge acquired
in an undergraduate program,” Bardaro says.
Although Bardaro says any degree that allows you to increase your technical know-how is valuable when it comes to salary, she cautions that more education does not always result in higher income, especially when you factor in the cost of obtaining the degree. “Education is like any other investment, in that one needs to do some cost-benefit analysis before taking the plunge,” she says.
Below, we’ve ranked the 10 best-paying and five worst-paying master’s degrees and listed three top-paying, typical jobs for graduates and median, mid-career salary information. The master’s of business administration (MBA) is not included in this list.
To put the salaries in perspective, the median pay per master’s-degree category is:
1. Master’s in Electrical Engineering
1. Master’s in Counseling
Reading this article has helped me put that extra drive and determination to be the best and to succeed. Here are questions I have asked myself when a change is happens...
Where do I want to be?
Am I pushing myself to reach my potential and goals?
Am I ready to be inconvenienced on this journey?
Ask yourself these questions and see if you have accomplished all of them with your current job/school or new job/school.
For me I have taken the first steps to have a few years of inconvenience and stress for decades of enjoying the spoils and peace of mind from the hard work and sacrifices I will make.
Best-Paying and Worst-Paying Master’s Degrees
If you’re looking for the most bang for your postgraduate educational buck, some master’s degrees yield bigger financial returns than others.
Although Bardaro says any degree that allows you to increase your technical know-how is valuable when it comes to salary, she cautions that more education does not always result in higher income, especially when you factor in the cost of obtaining the degree. “Education is like any other investment, in that one needs to do some cost-benefit analysis before taking the plunge,” she says.
Below, we’ve ranked the 10 best-paying and five worst-paying master’s degrees and listed three top-paying, typical jobs for graduates and median, mid-career salary information. The master’s of business administration (MBA) is not included in this list.
To put the salaries in perspective, the median pay per master’s-degree category is:
- Engineering and technology degrees: $110,000
- Arts and sciences degrees: $83,300
- Pre-professional degrees: $84,100
1. Master’s in Electrical Engineering
- Median Pay: $121,000
- Possible Jobs: Senior systems engineer ($124,000), software developer ($112,000), senior electrical engineer ($108,000)
- Median Pay: $120,000
- Possible Jobs: Vice president of finance ($170,000), finance director ($154,000), senior financial analyst ($83,500)
- Median Pay: $117,000
- Possible Jobs: Process engineering manager ($148,000), senior chemical engineer ($124,000), chemical process engineer ($102,000)
- Median Pay: $114,000
- Possible Jobs: Marketing director ($150,000), economist ($107,000), senior financial analyst ($104,000)
- Median Pay: $113,000
- Possible Jobs: Senior software engineer ($112,000), physicist ($93,400), secondary school teacher ($70,000)
- Median Pay: $109,000
- Possible Jobs: Software architect ($124,000), IT project manager ($109,000), software developer ($96,100)
- Median Pay: $105,000
- Possible Jobs: Senior mechanical engineer ($100,000), project engineer ($88,300), mechanical engineer ($86,800)
- Median Pay: $97,100
- Possible Jobs: Construction project manager ($97,100), structural engineer ($86,600), civil engineer ($84,800)
- Median Pay: $96,200
- Possible Jobs: Physician assistant ($96,500)
- Median Pay: $95,000
- Possible Jobs: Senior software engineer ($105,000), IT manager ($92,600), systems analyst ($82,400)
1. Master’s in Counseling
- Median Pay: $52,300
- Possible Jobs: Guidance counselor ($59,000), mental health counselor ($48,800), social worker ($47,300)
- Median Pay: $56,900
- Possible Jobs: Clinical services director ($64,700), social worker ($54,200), clinical therapist ($50,900)
- Median Pay: $56,900
- Possible Jobs: Secondary school teacher ($55,300), elementary school teacher ($44,700), music director ($43,000)
- Median Pay: $57,100
- Possible Jobs: Elementary school principal ($74,300), secondary school teacher ($54,700), elementary school teacher ($53,800)
- Median Pay: $60,000
- Possible Jobs: Elementary school principal ($74,300), secondary school teacher ($54,700), elementary school teacher ($53,800)
