Master’s degrees are the second biggest scam in higher education?
1–10 of 315 posts
Re: Master’s degrees are the second biggest scam in higher education?
#2In the US.
Re: Master’s degrees are the second biggest scam in higher education?
#3In the US.
Sure, but personally I would argue that it almost always makes more financial sense to do a combined Masters-PhD (i.e. a research degree), especially in fields with plentiful funding.
That was the case for me in Ireland when I did my doctorate.
Re: Master’s degrees are the second biggest scam in higher education?
#4[deleted]
Re: Master’s degrees are the second biggest scam in higher education?
#5[deleted]
[deleted]
Re: Master’s degrees are the second biggest scam in higher education?
#6I can only speak from myself (Economics, in Portugal).
In employability terms, my master's degree was not a good investment, and these degrees are cheap here compared to the US (I payed 5k for two years).
I do however feel I developed plenty of resillience due to the amount of studying I had to do, a real understanding of what academic life is like by doing my thesis (we are not very exposed to papers in the undergrad), and most importantly, a strong and useful framework and intuition for thinking about the world - but I think that might just be a combination of my degree and innate inclinations.
Re: Master’s degrees are the second biggest scam in higher education?
#7I can only speak from myself (Economics, in Portugal). In employability terms, my master's degree was not a good investment, and these degrees are cheap here compared to the US (I payed 5k for two years). I do however feel I developed plenty of resillience due to the amount of studying I had to do, a real understanding of what academic life is like by doing my thesis (we are not very exposed to papers in the undergra…
Don't forget to factor in the opportunity cost of 2 years of lost wages!
Re: Master’s degrees are the second biggest scam in higher education?
#8Will Master's allow me to obtain US visa / get job in US & relocate easier?
or the diff between bachelor/engineering degree is barely significant
Re: Master’s degrees are the second biggest scam in higher education?
#9I got my PhD in a field where you nonchalantly get a masters along the way (because masters degrees have an in-field glass ceiling).
A terminal masters program was started by my program while I was in attendance. If you needed the education, it was billed as a professional degree and I think is put to good use. But if you had an undergraduate degree in the field and were not pursuing a PhD then it was just window dressing.
Re: Master’s degrees are the second biggest scam in higher education?
#10I guess they are paying $300k for the connections and access to the elites who go to these universities but whats the point of paying if the 'elite university experience' is not only virtual, but anyone can go and get a MS degree online for cheap access? (Obviously for some courses)
Still the pandemic has made it glaringly obvious that depending on the course you study, in this case, history, media, drama and film studies, a Masters Degree in either of those fields is a complete scam if the probabilities in getting a high earning job is that small as I have said before. [0]
As for a PhD in especially in either of those fields. Well... Just don't take my word for it and just look at the responses right here and you can make your own decision to see if it is worth it. [1]