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ABOUT GRADUATE SCHOOL Foreword-Graduate Education and You As you consider what to do with your life, you will need to make choices. One of these choices could be graduate school, especially if you want to pursue a strong interest in a particular field of study. Graduate school, through programs leading to master’s and doctoral degrees in hundreds of fields, provides the opportunity to do that. But to take advantage of this opportunity, you will need to know a lot more about what graduate school is and how it can be part of you educational and career plans. It is important to find a way to get from where you are to where you want to be. Graduate school is one way and, depending on your talents and abilities, it may be a good way for you. The information provided here, along with other material on the CGS web site will help you find out.
Jules B. LaPidus,
president
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If you enjoy reading, problem-solving, discovering new facts, and exploring new ideas, you should consider going to graduate school. Your ideas become your major asset. You can decide what you want to do and make it happen. Graduate education gives you a chance to learn more about the things that interest you most and to develop your interests and skills into a full-time career. In that sense, graduate school can give you the opportunity to take control of your life. A graduate degree can influence how fast and how far you can advance in your career. It can increase your earning power. It can also enhance your job satisfaction, the amount of responsibility you assume, and the freedom you have to make your own decisions. A graduate degree can influence how fast and how far you can advance in your career. It can increase your earning power. It can also enhance your job satisfaction, the amount of responsibility you assume, and the freedom you have to make your own decisions. A graduate degree may also give you greater flexibility to change careers. By earning an advanced degree, you demonstrate your ability to master complex topics and carry out projects on your own initiative. These qualities are attractive to employers, and they may make it possible for you to find jobs in areas other than those you have specifically studied. In many fields, especially in technology, teaching, and business, the baccalaureate degree is an entry-level degree. As more people go to college, it becomes what the high school diploma used to be. You must have it to get a good job. Higher level positions and the decision-making power often goes to people who have gone beyond undergraduate education. If financing a graduate degree is a problem, consider that many graduate students cover part of their costs with grants and fellowships, or earn money through part-time teaching or research. If you must borrow money, it becomes an investment in your future income level. As you move up the educational ladder, the salary you can command usually moves up as well. If you haven’t thought about graduate school or thought it wasn’t possible, then this booklet is for you. It is intended to give you some basic information about various kinds of graduate education, how a graduate degree can benefit you, and how to pay for it. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that annual income is strongly related to degree attainment. The annual earnings of graduate degree-holders are 33% more than baccalaureate degree recipients, with master’s degree recipients earning an average of $48,886 per year and those with an undergraduate $36,686. Those with a doctorate earned, $65,744 per year, and those with a professional degree earned $83,089 annually (Bureau of the Census P20-493, 1996).
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A graduate program involves specialized knowledge and concentrated study in one area. In this respect it differs from undergraduate study, which introduces you to a wide range of subjects, even though you major in one, and gives you certain general intellectual skills-reading critically, writing clearly, and arguing persuasively. A graduate program is generally more focused on a specific area of interest and on acquiring specialized skills to practice a profession or do advanced research. However, it does not merely entail an additional number of courses. It requires active participation in research. Frequently internships to practice professional skills are part of the curriculum. There are two kinds of graduate degrees, professional degrees and research degrees, and two levels, master’s and doctoral. At the master’s level, a professional degree gives you a specific set of skills needed to practice a particular profession. It is generally a final degree. The research master’s provides experience in research and scholarship, and it may be a final degree or a step toward a doctorate. The professional master’s degree may be in education, business, engineering, or some other area of professional activity. It will prepare you for a career in a particular area or will allow you to enhance your skills in your existing career. The master’s degree in a research area can do the same, depending on your career aspirations and the area of the degree. It involves less commitment of time and money than does a doctorate, but it can lead to a career with greater responsibility and better pay than you might be able to have with a baccalaureate degree alone. The master’s degree usually takes 1 or 2 years of study. The professional master’s degree often involves some type of internship or fieldwork. The research degree may involve writing a thesis or taking a comprehensive examination. At the doctoral level there are also professional degrees and research degrees. The most common professional degrees are the M.D. for medical practice or the J.D. for law. These degrees are highly specialized, and more detailed information can be obtained by getting information from the Association of American Medical Colleges http://www.aals.org. Graduate School and You is focused primarily on the research doctoral degree, the Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy). The doctorate involves training in research, which provides the skills to discover new knowledge. It can prepare you for a wide range of careers. It is the primary credential for college-level teaching. The doctoral degree typically involves both coursework and a major research project. It usually takes 4 to 6 years of full-time study to get a Ph.D. or other research doctorate, depending on field of study. The first 2 or 3 years usually involve classes, seminars, and directed reading to give you comprehension knowledge of an academic field. In the sciences you may also begin independent research projects as part of a laboratory group. This period of study is followed by written or oral examinations that test your knowledge. Successful completion of the exams (sometimes called “comprehensives” or “comps”) and formulation of a research project lead you to the stage of candidacy. As a candidate for a doctoral degree, you and your institution agree that you will work on a project that involves original research and reporting on the research through a dissertation. Depending on the field, this project should take 1 to 2 years of work to complete. Faculty members guide the process of devising the research project and evaluating the results, but you carry out the work independently.
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