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Is An Online Master鈥檚 Degree Worth The Money? - YouTube
Channel: CNBC Make It
[0]
The U.S. unemployment
rate is currently
[2]
seven point nine
percent, over 15
[5]
million Americans have
filed for
[6]
unemployment insurance
since the
[7]
pandemic began in March,
and it is
[9]
still not clear
when the economic
[11]
recession will end.
During the 2008
[13]
financial crisis, many
Americans went
[15]
back to school to
ride out the
[16]
recession. But while
the coronavirus
[18]
pandemic has not
dramatically changed
[20]
what it costs to earn
a degree, it has
[22]
dramatically changed what
it means to
[23]
be a student. If you
wanted to get a
[25]
graduate degree right
now, it would
[27]
probably look something
like this.
[30]
The question is, is
this worth it?
[34]
The College Board
estimates that
[35]
master's program cost
about nineteen
[37]
thousand five hundred
and seventy
[38]
dollars per year
at public universities
[40]
and forty three
thousand three hundred
[42]
eighty dollars per
year at private
[43]
universities. Some
schools, like
[45]
Georgetown University,
charge over
[47]
80,000 dollars per year
for a master's
[49]
program. Is an
online master's degree
[52]
worth the money? One
of the first
[57]
things you learn in
Economics 101 are
[60]
two words:
Opportunity cost.
[62]
The opportunity cost is
what you have to
[65]
give up to
acquire something.
[67]
So in the context
of going to college,
[70]
the what you would
have made on your
[73]
job if you'd been
working and kept
[74]
going to school is
is the opportunity
[76]
cost of college
is the opportunities
[78]
that you would have
given up in order
[79]
to to pursue a
college degree or
[82]
master's degree. Historically,
we see
[83]
people go to
college in recessions
[85]
because in a time
when there are few
[88]
jobs during the
recession, the
[90]
opportunity cost of going
to school is
[92]
quite low. In 2007,
there were some 17
[95]
,956,000 colleges in
the United States,
[99]
including three million
five hundred
[101]
ninety one thousand
graduate students.
[103]
By 2011, that
figure increased roughly
[106]
14 percent to include
over 20 million
[108]
total college
students.
[110]
There are two
countervailing forces.
[113]
One is, you know,
the economy is this
[116]
bad? And so this is
a good time to go
[118]
back to school
that with pushed
[119]
generally push more people
to go to
[121]
college. And the
other hand, the
[122]
pandemic is really
disrupted how we
[124]
provide schooling.
[126]
Early data suggests
that these
[128]
countervailing forces are
having an
[130]
impact on students.
[132]
Undergraduate college
enrollment is
[133]
down 2.5 percent a
semester, in part
[136]
because many low
income students,
[137]
community college
students and
[139]
international students
have stopped
[141]
attending because of
the pandemic.
[143]
But graduate school
enrollment is
[145]
booming. Enrollment
in master's
[147]
programs increased six
percent and
[149]
enrollment in
post baccalaureate
[150]
certificates has increased
24 percent
[152]
since 2019.
[153]
To be sure, every
student has their own
[156]
reason for choosing
to pursue a
[157]
master's degree. My
name is Tarrant's.
[159]
I'm 22 years old
and I'm earning a
[162]
master's degree in
conflict resolution
[164]
at Georgetown
University.
[165]
My name is Liz Saccoccia.
I'm 28 and I
[168]
am studying a Masters
of Analytics at
[170]
Georgia Tech Online.
[171]
My name is
Taelor Malcolm.
[173]
I am 23 years
old and I'm studying
[176]
urban planning at
the Graduate School
[179]
of Design at
Harvard University.
[181]
I actually came into
the master program
[184]
straight after
my undergraduate
[186]
program, which
was international
[188]
business and
economics.
[190]
I did international
relations at the
[192]
University of Delaware. And
as I was
[195]
applying for jobs,
I realized, oh,
[197]
people are not going
to know where to
[198]
put me. So I was
like, I'm going to do
[200]
twofold. I'm going
to go somewhere
[202]
where there aren't a
lot of networking
[203]
opportunities and I'm going
to earn a
[209]
degree that could kind
of give me some
[212]
some direction. I have
been working at
[214]
the World Resources
Institute and have
[217]
really kind of
understood that
[220]
additional skills and
data analytics
[222]
are really important
for doing research
[226]
in the
environmental sector.
[227]
Research shows that
workers with
[228]
graduate degrees often
outearn those
[231]
without those with just
a high school
[233]
diploma earn around
seven hundred and
[234]
forty six dollars per
week on average,
[236]
while college graduates
earn closer to
[238]
one thousand two
hundred forty eight
[239]
dollars per week
on average.
[241]
And workers with
master's degrees earn
[243]
nearly one thousand
five hundred
[244]
dollars per week.
And early research
[246]
shows that workers
with advanced
[248]
degrees, such as masters
and PhDs have
[250]
been significantly less
impacted by the
[252]
economic fallout caused
by the
[254]
pandemic. Pew Research
Center found
[255]
that since the
pandemic began, highly
[257]
educated workers are
significantly less
[259]
likely to have lost
health insurance or
[261]
to have struggled
paying bills.
[263]
And Federal Reserve
data indicates that
[264]
the unemployment rate
is two times
[266]
higher for high
school graduates than
[268]
it is for those
with a master's degree.
[270]
The conflict facing
students, however,
[272]
is that the experience
of earning that
[274]
master's degree
has changed
[275]
dramatically. But the cost
of not most
[278]
recent estimates suggest
that the
[279]
annual tuition for
master's programs is
[281]
about eight thousand
nine hundred
[283]
ninety dollars at
public universities
[284]
and thirty one thousand
one hundred and
[286]
forty dollars at
private universities.
[288]
Add in fees and
room and board, and
[290]
those totals increase
to nineteen
[292]
thousand five hundred
seventy dollars
[294]
and 43 thousand
three hundred and
[296]
eighty dollars per
year respectively.
[298]
Few schools have
significantly reduced
[301]
costs for graduate
students since the
[302]
pandemic began. They
have no incentive
[304]
to enrollment is
up, but current
[306]
students are wondering
if they are
[307]
getting the same value
for their money
[309]
spent. They are not
the same value at
[311]
all. A lot of
it is waiting, waiting,
[314]
waiting to be called,
waiting to send
[317]
notice. This paper is
a sign that
[319]
you're waiting to be
told the next
[321]
thing to do, whereas
in person it feels
[325]
like you're interacting
in person was
[327]
very collaborative, not
only with your
[329]
professors, but with
other students.
[332]
If I had an issue
with my Adobe suite, I
[335]
could just raise my
hand and wave
[337]
somebody over. The
online experience is
[340]
not really like that.
You're not around
[342]
people as much. You
have to schedule
[344]
things like pay
for college.
[346]
You're paying for the
facility usage as
[349]
well. You're paying for
being in the
[352]
classroom when you're
not using those.
[354]
I feel like you
shouldn't have to pay
[356]
for it. It's not
the education that
[357]
they were expecting.
So they really
[359]
have to weigh the
costs and benefits of
[363]
taking on the debt
that I have accrued
[365]
thus far is about--
[369]
Almost $100,000.
[372]
However, universities
and experts
[373]
emphasize that
offering online
[375]
education is not
necessarily cheaper to
[377]
provide. It turns
out that online
[380]
instruction is not
less expensive for
[383]
the colleges when
strange research
[385]
college departments that
have chosen to
[386]
move learning online
over the past
[388]
several years, he
found that schools
[390]
were not able
to significantly cut
[391]
costs. He points
out that building
[393]
software, developing
online curriculum
[396]
and expanding tech
support isn't cheap,
[399]
especially on a
shortened timeline like
[401]
schools have faced
during the pandemic.
[403]
It turns out it
doesn't really save you
[405]
much money, if any
money, to shift
[408]
online holding kind
of constant the
[412]
quality of what
you're doing.
[413]
This quality in
online classes and
[416]
technical support
and networking
[417]
opportunities appears to
be key in
[419]
whether or not
experts and students
[421]
believe in online master's
is worth the
[423]
expensive price tag.
[425]
I honestly don't think
I would suggest
[428]
going to get their
masters in a
[430]
recession just to
get their masters.
[432]
It could make them
more viable once the
[436]
recession is over. But
I don't know if
[440]
I don't know if
it's always the best
[441]
choice. One big factor
is how employers
[444]
view online
advanced degrees.
[446]
Will they hold the
same weight or will
[449]
an even cheaper
option disrupt the
[451]
market completely.
[452]
If companies start to
accept more of
[455]
that Coursera degrees
or online or
[458]
certificates a
bit more.
[460]
I'm actually kind of
interested to see
[463]
if that will take
the place of formal
[464]
education. Online
providers like
[465]
Coursera, ADEX and
Khan Academy offer
[467]
courses, certificates
and credentials
[469]
for little or
no cost.
[471]
Proponents of the models
say that if
[472]
companies begin to
value these
[474]
nontraditional online
learning pathways
[476]
like they do
traditional graduate
[477]
degrees, the whole
system could be
[479]
turned upside down.
Google has created
[481]
its own certification
program where if
[483]
you get through that
and it takes
[485]
months, not years
at Amazon, once
[487]
again, they're trying to
hire tens of
[488]
thousands of engineers
every year.
[491]
They are creating
assessments, computer
[493]
based assessments that if
you can pass
[495]
this and write the
code, you're in the
[497]
process, you're in the
maybe even ahead
[499]
of many
college graduates.
[501]
And if these types
of employers start
[503]
saying a college degree
is nice, we'll
[504]
take a look at
that. But here's some
[506]
other paths. And by
the way, they're
[507]
free. I think other
people are going to
[510]
take notice and
follow their lead.
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