Image Courtesy: bit.ly/1e0CApC Are you getting ready to earn a graduate degree? Do you want a degree that will give you the best career opportunities? Can a business degree help you get the best job opportunities? How can you know which degree will be most suitable for you? I am here to help you in making the right decision by talking about the best degrees in 2015. Keep reading....
Recently, PayScale analysed and identified the best and worst graduate degrees which will enable you to pursue a profitable career. The analysis was done for Fortune and considers the pay and stress level associated with each job.
Which graduate degrees are best for you?
For many students, salary is not always the only motivation for studying a college degree. However, you can benefit from learning about different perspectives before you take out a heavy student debt, especially when average tuition fee can run up to $63,000 a year for a graduate degree in the US. Hence, Fortune teamed up with PayScale, a popular careers site, to recognise the best and worst graduate degrees for employment. The study considered a wide array of graduate degrees, such as law degrees, master’s degrees and PhDs.
Some deciding factors
- Long-term career development outlook is one of the prominent factors. PayScale took help from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and used the 2012-2022 Employment Projections data for analysis. Average job growth rate for all professions is expected at 10 per cent.
- Another important factor is average salaries at 10 years or at mid-career (considering the 3 jobs mostly associated with any degree).
- Lastly, job satisfaction scores were also considered; the percentage of graduates who claimed high satisfaction in one of the surveys conducted by PayScale.
STEM rules the charts
It was not much surprising for me that the PayScale study found the best college degrees in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields, where the average mid-career salaries were at $131,700. Katie Bardaro, lead economist and director of analytics at PayScale, said “The top of the list has consistently been dominated by STEM degrees, especially statistics and computer science in the last 5 years.” The average mid-career earnings for top degrees are almost similar, however it must be mentioned that some degrees can help you get jobs with low levels of stress.
Best graduate degrees
Here is the list of the best graduate degrees for your career-
PhD in Statistics
You can earn an average salary of $131,700 and job growth is projected at 23.7 per cent by 2022. Around 71 per cent degree holders said they were highly satisfied.
Master’s in Biostatistics
You can get an average salary of $113,400 with estimated job growth at 21.3 per cent by 2022. Almost 86 per cent degree holders claimed they were highly satisfied.
PhD in Computer Science
It will help you earn a median salary of $144,800 and the growth in jobs in expected to be around 17.1 per cent. Almost 80 per cent of graduates said they were highly satisfied.
Master’s in Human Computer Interaction
This degree will offer you an average salary of $115,200 and about 72 per cent degree holders said they were highly satisfied with their jobs with an estimated 17.1 per cent growth in jobs.
MBA
With an MBA you can earn a median salary of $113,000 and job growth is projected at 20 per cent by 2022. Over 72 per cent graduates said they were highly satisfied. So if you are planning for a business degree then an MBA is the right option for you.
Apart from these, some other degrees considered best by the PayScale study include-
- Master’s in Statistics
- Master’s in Computer Science
- PhD in Economics
- PhD in Physics
- Master’s in Information Science
What are the worst graduate degrees?
It was found that most of the worst degrees for job were primarily in arts and education. Careers in these fields will enable you to earn an average of $48,100 in mid-career, as per PayScale. Katie Bardaro said “Art-focused degrees and education dominate the bottom, year in and year out. Teachers and social workers whose salaries are funded by tax dollars are hard-pressed to see pay raises, in spite of their benefit to society.”
Worst graduate degrees
Let's take a quick look at the worst graduate degrees-
- Master’s in Interior Design (average salary- $69,400 )
- Master’s in Educational Administration (average salary- $77,100)
- Master’s in Early Childhood Education (average salary- $48,100)
- Master’s in Criminal Justice (average salary- $60,500)
- Master’s in Curriculum & Instruction (average salary- $58,200)
What should you do
Now that you know about the best graduate degrees for 2015, an MBA degree can certainly prove to be the most lucrative option for your career. However, with growing tuition fees in most B-schools and universities across the globe, I would suggest that you pursue a business degree online. Why? The business courses offered by any online international business school are highly affordable, flexible and effective. These courses are usually designed to help you study while you work. Hence, you can choose to learn at your own pace anywhere anytime.
Moreover, business degrees provided any reputed business school online are highly valued by most global employers and universities. So not only you will get the best employment opportunities, but will also be able to pursue higher studies and fast track to an MBA degree in future.
What do you think? Is an MBA right for your career? Let us know what you feel by commenting below.
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