Graduate degrees are honored by many industries as a reliable indicator of a person’s academic capabilities and professional skills.  Despite this, however, many people still question their worth as some companies still prefer real-world experience over academic credentials.

If you’re on the fence about whether to pursue your own graduate degree, this in-depth guide may be of some help.  Aside from the pros and cons of graduate studies, we’ll also provide references for schools, loan companies, financial advisors, finance guides, and more.

The Pros and Cons of Graduate Studies

Improves Your Employability

The biggest benefit to pursuing a graduate degree is the fact that your employability drastically increases once you’ve attained one.  This is due to the fact that this degree qualifies you for positions with higher levels of responsibility.

As a result, your capability for upward mobility in the workplace also rises in accordance with your chosen field of specialization.  While the actual level of mobility will vary with each industry, the majority of companies will reserve managerial positions for those with master’s degrees.

Improves Your Skills

Alongside the experience you gain from your line of work, your graduate studies also expose you to higher-level professionals.  When you pair this with the additional knowledge you gain from industry-relevant lectures, your skills tend to increase over time.

By adding more useful skills to your repertoire you also become more valuable to your employer since you’re able to perform a wider variety of tasks.  This can include hands-on procedures, logistic planning, or even managerial decision-making.

Can Be Expensive

As an undergraduate student, you may have had to take out a student loan in the past to pay for a sizeable tuition fee.  Many graduate students still struggle to pay for their tuition since the average cost of a graduate degree can range from $7,000 to $10,000 per year.  

If you’re living on a tight budget or you have your hands full with day-to-day expenses, pursuing a graduate degree could put a wrench in your financial plans.  While the prospect of a loan is certainly tempting, this can still cause considerable financial strain

Extremely Time Consuming

Most folks who pursue a degree after college tend to work a steady job even while they are studying.  If your workplace has an employee development program, postgraduate studies may not be an issue for you.

But, if you happen to work a 9 to 5 job with tiring hours and a considerable workload, you may find it rather difficult to balance university studies and work.  The time demanded by postgraduate studies should be given serious thought before enrolling in a program.

The way we see it, many professionals get by just fine working after they’ve achieved a bachelor’s degree.  But if you can spare the time and money, we definitely think pursuing a graduate degree is well worth it.

Now that we’ve covered the pros and cons of graduate studies, we hope you’ll find it easier to decide whether you should pursue a postgraduate degree.