I did my master’s online. It taught me that I can teach myself.

I graduated with a master's degree in STEM a couple of years ago. Salary before master's degree: $20k a year The total cost of an online master's degree (2 years): $30k Salary now: $80k a year. Lesson learned: Get a master's degree in something marketable from the best school you can afford.

I mean I learned more on KZfaq than from the University.

It depends on the type of major you're doing. For me, I worked and did an online degree in data analytics. I also obtained 3 industry certifications near the end of my master's program. 5 months after graduating, I got a job and increased my salary by 70%. I suggest get the most affordable master's degree you can and supplement it with industry recognized certifications. I only have 36K total in loans and am on track to pay it back within 2-3 years.

It seems like a Master's degree is the new Bachelor's degree. I wonder if the things will ever revert back to less "formal" education as people focus on technical training and learning from the wealth of free resources we have available to us nowadays.

Please don't get a masters just to get a masters. You'll be just as qualified as you were before the program with more debt.

Now is NOT a good time to get in debt. Save your money.

Online master's degrees are great if you are working and gaining experience at the same time. The covid forced online degree where you attend full time at home is not a great idea.

Colleges are getting the wake-up call they needed. Adapt to the times or get left behind.

Im tryna figure out why Taurence is paying $80k/yr for a degree in conflict resolution.

It's interesting to see how people generally say degrees are worthless these days, and then when you go through the job search engine you see employer's posting "Tertiary qualification in..." or "A Degree in ...". BUT you will ALSO see "At least 2 years experience in..." and the list goes on. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE EXPERIENCE, but oh wait, YOU CAN'T GET EXPERIENCE BECAUSE EMPLOYERS DON'T HIRE PEOPLE WITH NO EXPERIENCE.

Honestly spending a 100K for a graduate degree in conflict resolution is not worth it. Get a certificate in data analytics while you are there. That kind of debt is crippling and you won't have the salary to pay it off

Why are the cost for an online degree the same as someone who attends the university? If you getting your degree at home you're not using the college's resources, (room and board) you're using your own electricity, gas and wifi. I know a lot of people with degree that are not working in their chosen fields.

What money ? Laughing in European 🥶😂 I Pay 200 a semester in a top German university for my M.Sc in business administration. Maybe fix your college system, rather than bankrupting students. A recession shouldn’t decide your future.

I earned both my MBA and doctorate online. Both have helped me exponentially in my career. In addition, My knowledge grew tremendously.

I'm an American paying $2k total for a two year Master's in Analytics in Switzerland. For me, worth it.

Every online master’s feels like a degree mill. No reason it should be that price if you’re not getting hands on experience.

Im in a completely online masters program for cyber security. Its a quarter of the price as the in person classes and right now it’s totally worth it. Same degree, same content, but online and asynchronous.

Absolutley!!!!!....... when your company and military pay for it 😂

Get field experience first. What the point of masters with 0 experience? Especially now with all these experienced people laid off.

I’m currently in a master’s program, and it does not cost at all what the video suggests. It is around $6k annually. The tuition plus fees per semester is about $2.7k, rounding it up to $3k we have a liberal estimate of $6k annually, still ~$3k lower than the estimate the video provided ($8.9k). This program is only a 2 year program, so in the end it will cost about $10.8k. I do not live on campus and because of the pandemic my work and school are both online. I do not wish to dox myself, however the school I attend is a California State University (public school) and I am not even using any financial aid or scholarships. I am very lucky to have both my work and school be online, however I do not believe to be the only one who has this arrangement. With that said it really can be affordable, most employers will pay for your post graduate education (provided that you will continue to work for them for some set amount of time) in some sort of tuition reimbursement. This would mean you would have to upfront the initial cost, and if your grades are decent enough then they will reimburse you. Not to mention as well, but any scholastic expenses can be written off on your tax forms, and increase your tax return, money that can go back to your education (or anywhere else really). The caveat is that work and school can be incredibly exhausting, even if they are both online. Your grades will have to be higher as C’s are failing, so you must maintain at least a B- in all your classes, which is easier said than done. However, I truly believe the return on investment is the right decision if you think that this will advance your career. For myself, my BSc was in chemical engineering, and I am earning a MSc in mechanical engineering. With this degree, the required time of experience most employers expect decreases significantly, meaning that the barrier of entry to most jobs is much lower. Furthermore, as the video stated, the rate of pay increases significantly. With a BSc and 3 years of work experience, I am currently making $35/hour or $72.8k annually. With a MSc in engineering, one can expect earnings to be around $100k on the low end to even $200k depending on the job/experience. Ultimately, I would encourage anyone to pursue higher education but only on two conditions: 1. You are able to afford this without requiring (potentially additional) student loans 2. You have actual evidence that this will increase your net earnings and provide a good return on investment. If you do not fulfil either of these requirements, then I suggest reconsidering this pursuit.

Degrees are worth it for select majors. Georgia Tech's online master's for CS or Analytics is only $10k total.

I'm kind of surprised this video did not touch on the type of student that would not have the opportunity to further their education without online classes. Regardless of the pandemic or not, if I got my masters I'd need it to be almost completely online because I would also want to keep my full time job or move to a part time job where I currently live.

I'll be 100% honest - these degrees are valuable if you already work FULL-TIME and have obligations that require you to not be physically present at a University. Anything in business like an MBA isn't worth it to do online since you lose ALL the networking opportunities with alumnus and your peers (which is why you pay top dollar). Computer science, engineering, design are all great programs to do online. 🌟

way too many bachelor degrees.... not a lot of jobs which is why ppl go for their masters

im a chemist so its an absolute NO for me. Any graduate program related to STEM should be taken in person

Taurence is getting his masters in conflict resolution and is paying 80k/year for it. He’s screwed

Saying that the average person with a graduate degree out earns the average person with a bachelor's ignores the significant spread and overlap in the earning potential of the 2 populations. Of course, if you pursue more education with a plan and intentionality (and you have a job that might already be paying for that degree), you can be successful enough to pull up the average for the graduate degree group. If you default yourself into paying outrageous amounts of money for a piece of paper with no plan on how to convert that investment into a job, you have a high likelihood of being that part of the graduate degree population with limited economic opportunities and high debt burden.

In one of my Uni classes the teacher literally doesn’t teach us anything, she/ he idk , gives us KZfaq videos to watch and a basic neuroscience book to read and then we take a quiz and do discussion post. Like brah Y’all raised the tuition and I’m paying for something that I could do on my own... if it wasn’t a requirement in my degree plan I would have dropped that class. I really hope the master’s level stuff at least is really helpful or you learn something you wouldn’t have of done on your own otherwise Uni really isn’t worth it.

My name is Daniel, I'm 29 years old, and spending my days watching KZfaq videos...

Honestly apart from specialised jobs you are better of learning things from KZfaq, google searches and books.

Edx has an online Masters degree in Analytics from Georgia Tech for $9,900. They claim it’s the exact same degree and less than $10k. That’s an extreme value!

Be a TA or a GA and get that stipend + tuition waiver!!!! Not much but enough to get by.

I'm currently in an MBA and it goes like this >checks online lesson *sees equations* >checks homework *completely different* >KZfaq search how to ACTUALLY do the homework

If you're paying tons for a master's degree, you're doing it WRONG. I got my Msc in a specialized computational field at a great public university. I worked hard and got a research assistantship that covered the tuition of 2/3 of the semesters and also got paid a $1,000/month stipend that mostly paid me back for the first semester that I paid out of pocket for. My total out of pocket cost was $3,000 and I got a job right out of graduation making $80k/year.

Fyi, all the things that your professors teach you in class have been regurgitated from your textbook, a textbook that is available online to buy (or free if you're smart enough to figure out how).

I already have a bachelor's degree from an in-state public university, but I'm learning to code in a free online certificate course. I can't wait to start applying to jobs and getting a high salary.

I started my masters right before the pandemic hit. Mine was already an online program and the college has been providing online programs for quite sometime. But I got my new job mainly because I am in a masters program. I think if the reasons are right there is no problem with doing one, but doing one just to do it is not the way to go.

There is a difference between an online degree designed to be online versus one being forced to suddenly be online. I am pursuing a second master's online in a degree designed to be online and I think it works really great.

Moral of the Story: Learn how to code and pass test, this is your only way to pass the bureaucratic of a 'college degree'

As a non-American, it is really hard for me to understand why someone chooses to go 100k in debt for a degree he may not use it after all! He probably didn't even join the workforce to know how hard it'd be to pay this debt for something that could be useless. I'd expect for someone who has already a degree to be smarter!

Financial security through diligent saving and investing should be ontop of everyone's priority and when the economy burns you out, you can pursue other options at the time of your choosing. My Son thought I was crazy to put 70% of my paycheck towards investment for 3yrs. I never see it. Today I am blessed with more than I could ask for and currently control 8 rental properties all which I acquired by doing nothing except being smart with my money! You can feel the pain of discipline early or feel the pain of regret later. I wish everyone well!

Master’s tuition is usually free at public accredited universities in Germany and Norway, even for US students - including for online programs. And the fees are relatively modest in other European countries (usually lower than $800 for the total program cost). Several of my Class of 2020 peers and I are looking at programs in Europe for the affordability, but also to get international experience and potentially work abroad afterwards. Unless I had the chance to study at a top-tier school in the US (with a high return on investment), the costs simply aren’t justified for me. I didn’t think I would go for a Master’s until 2-3 years after graduation but most entry-level jobs in big cities require a master’s degree these days in order to be taken seriously.

I received a master's degree in Teaching English as a Second Language online. As an expat, the M.A. helped me immensely. I went from working at soul-crushing English "academies" with pitiful pay to a legitimate international school. I can confidently say that I more than doubled my salary AND I have accommodations from the school (housing stipend, relocation stipend, etc).

Georgia Tech's Online Masters programs are nothing like the video shows. It's high quality, makes use of multiple LMS platforms and has significant amounts of collaboration built-in. As a USC grad and current Georgia Tech M.S. student, I feel the quality is equal and I've had the privilege of learning from professors in the tech industry such as Sebastian Thrun (Waymo @ Google) and Ayana Howard (NASA robotics).

Online class is “busy work”. Group projects don’t exist, there is no sense of interaction, and you basically just sit there and look at a PowerPoint presentation.

I'm getting a masters in cybersecurity. The kicker is MOST employers want a significant amount of experience in this field, despite the large need for CS workers

The big question is if a masters degree in general is a returned investment in your particular field of study. More and more fields don’t “need” a degree to be successful. Also there is a higher demand for trade jobs and skilled laborers. Then look into how you learn as a student. If you thrive on a online platform go for an online program. If you absolutely need the physical learning environment, maybe wait it out until you can get to a physical class. It’s not a one size fits all answer.

Asking a professor if college is worth it is like asking a military recruiter if the military is worth it

School prices in USA are just crazy.

I started my masters of science in user experience online this fall and honestly I feel it’s gonna get me far. I already have a software engineering degree but I did want to explore more of the business aspect of user research . I’m also gonna be doing my thesis at a lab that specializes in data collection of user data and the lab partners with company sponsors that students can write their thesis in so this degree will also make me develop further technical skills in data research.

if you learned something and those skills are applicable to make more money, then yes it's worth it.

I graduated with my master's degree in 2007. Tuition was $170 per credit hour. The program was 33 hours long. Total tuition price $5,610. I purchased my books via eBay! I was working full time and was able to pay as I go with no student loan. I taught a handful of adjunct college courses and easy made this back. Today, the total tuition is the price of a luxury vehicle or a small home in some places! This is not good, especially with tools like EdX, Coursera and of course KZfaq freely available. I see why many are predicting a bubble burst in the higher education industry.

Depends on the program and why you think you’ll need one for the future. If you’re looking for more money within your career, you’re more likely to get a bigger base salary if you churn jobs every 2-3 years, rather than hope for a 10% raise at that same company.

The short answer is no. The long answer is no with an asterisk*, most people should not be getting one anyway because of the cost and the fact you can do just fine in numerous ways and little debt you have down on you, the more quickly and with the agility you can move about to make smart financial moves. Lawers, doctors, data scientists, and software engineers will always be in demand but just because you heard your parents and all of your buddies say it was a good idea doesn't mean that is the path for you.

Don't forget about the people who are earning masters for a career change. They may need to do this because their undergrad degree is completely different.

Short answer: yes. Long answer: it depends.

People have 60k in debt and really tell themselves “yea let’s go get a masters to get more in debt”.

Read up on how the online program is structured before pursuing. I recently completed my MS program. It was taught both on campus and through online evening courses, which I took. We still had live lectures and discussions of the materials and projects over Zoom. Group projects were assigned as well; since most of the students were local we able to meet in person (this was 2019 pre-COVID).

WTF 43,000 and 19,000?!!! That is not average. That's is the lowest price you will find without factoring in fees and books

I went to an online-based master program. I think, overall, the program material is definitely accessible online but I did enjoy collaborating with my peers. I think that environment is what made my Masters Program rewarding.

in 5-10 years, people would not consider going to colleges and even take the student loan for attending the college. Educational business just got disrupted

Degrees are generally not worth the money and by doing then online you lose the best part! The interaction with your fellow students, getting to know interesting new people and University vibe...

This is the time where people can add any of the desired degree online. I have two degrees from conventional universities in my country and earned two online degrees from other countries. I also earned tons of certificates from MOOC's and diplomas with any level from online providers. I don't have spesific reason. Maybe because I'm a diploma addict! Before pandemic, distance learning education has been a trend and it went up even more after pandemic hit. From now on, learning will never be the same again. Nice review btw.

Too easy, it’s worth it if someone else pays for it. Getting my masters on the governments dime, in Economic Development & Entrepreneurship.

In this economy, the real question is: is a Master’s degree worth the money? online or on-campus ...

I earned an MBA from an AASCB accredited state university (Lamar U) online for less than 13K. I worked full-time while earning it. Learned a ton, expanded my network, and am now highly-qualified for an upcoming promotion. No it's not HBS, for it worked out great for me!

I am currently getting my masters degree in accounting. The only reason I’m doing it is because in order to become a certified public accountant you need 150 credit hours (a normal bachelors only gives you 120 credit hours). The job I was working at requires you to be eligible for certification before you start. So the choice was either a masters or another bachelors degree for me.

Got my masters paid for by the school through tuition waivers and stipends. Did it the right way.

Get your employers to foot the bill if they really want you to have a masters degree. They’re the ones who want you to have it. Definitely don’t go into debt for a degree that won’t guarantee you a job anymore than a bachelor would.

A degree to help someone "gain direction". At the Masters level you had better already HAVE direction. Masters are meant as specialization degrees, not as generalist degrees. You want a generalist degree in a discipline, get a Bachelors. You want a specialization degree, Masters. Terminal/Business degree? That's an MBA. Research degree? PhD. But getting a degree to help you figure out what you want to do...that is completely stupid and a waste and the same people who typically do that turn around and cry because they have X degree in a subject that doesn't make any money and wonder why they don't have a job. I worked at Target once with a bright girl who had a 3.7 GPA in her Bachelors in Archeology...what could she do with it? Well, she was on year 3 at Target in an hourly position because there are absolutely no jobs for Archeology majors unless you go overseas and have a minimum of a Masters AND be en-route to a PhD.

I recognize that guy’s voice at the end of the video. Is that Khan Academy?

I feel if getting your masters is coming from the heart then do it! I work full time, and I’am starting my second year of my masters program. My masters program has molded me professionally, helped me to Solve issues in a more analytical concept, and to be more advanced when it comes to technical writing. Also, because it’s on my resume people praise me when interviewing. Also, it’s important to attend a Graduate program that’s affordable and fits your lifestyle.

I’m graduating next spring with my master’s degree, and due to the pandemic, half my degree was spent online. It’s not worth it. Undergraduate degree would make sense since it’s just a lecture, but graduate degrees are seminars that are centered around student discussions and interactions. Online platform takes all that away

I was triggered af when Sal Khan started talking- it reminded me the times I was struggling in ochem in college 😭😂

It’s such bs. They’re still charging us library fee, parking fee, gym fee, student union fee, and more...

Missing detail: the Georgia Tech program referenced here only costs $11k total, and the sister Computer Science online program is ~$8.5k total.

I got my undergrad degree from Georgetown University. But I got my dual master degrees elsewhere. I'm astonished that it cost 80K to get a master's degree there. It's unreal

I’m in graduate school studying leadership online for free through my job. Definitely worth it. Deferring loans and free education while I’m already working full time and pursuing my passion. Unless you can do it like this (or another finesse), please, DONT DO IT

2-year Associates of Arts in Paralegal Studies, Degree? Many years later as a freelance, bill my time at $200 an hour. Pick my hours, take home a few boxes of papers in my SUV (the staff brings and loads them), paid parking, commute time at half wages ($100/hour) sort through them at home for a few days, create a narrative and summation, keep track of time in 6-minute increments (.1 of an hour, 60 minutes billable time), drop them back off to the office in my local Major Metropolitan City w the disk/thumb drive, go home. Done deal. Next? Depends upon how much I want to work this or the next month. Retired at 50. 10 years ago. Work when or if I want to. Short 2 years for my Education? Well worth it. The SBA (Small Business Administration) says that we will all change career trajectories 3 times in our lifetimes. Google it? Then set your next course of life's ship, and GO FOR IT! This ick is only a blip on your life's radar, my friends. Stay the course, NO WHINING, and keep on moving on, ok? Love and prayers, from this Major Old Lady, aka, mom to you and yours. Reply? Would love it, if you need someone to bounce.some ideas off of, alright? Once a mom, Always a mom.

It depends. I’m still going to graduate school for speech pathology.

For me, going back to university for masters is not just for knowledge but the experience especially the cultural and social differences. Why online degree is a no no. I already take a lot of certification courses online.

Their estimates are for low to mid ranking schools. But if it's top 100, it's $40k at public universities and $70k+ at private

From my experience in the IT field for +15 years, I think technical and soft skills are more important than degrees...Get certified through Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Cisco, etc. depending on your specialty...My graduate degree in engineering helped me get hired though...

I'm in the nursing profession and there's alot of degree mill type schools pushing convenient online degrees whether it be a bachelors or masters. I attended an in-person bachelor's program and when comparing myself to someone who went to an online "school" there's an obvious lack of comprehension of basic concepts like research, immunology, and pathophysiology just to name a few in those who went to an online school. And with masters degree programs they're pretty much useless as I make more than even a nurse practitioner. I a have a friend who is an instructor now at one of these online degree mills and literally confirmed this: "we take students as long as they have the money to pay."

Depends on the price and the university but I did mine online and I missed a network of students to talk to everyday.

This is why I left med school after finishing my 1st year... with technical degrees at least you can somehow get by with an online education... but with medicine... sorry but there's no way and also our tuition is still the same. I love medicine and everything it has to offer but this pandemic ruined it for me. That's why I'm transitioning into data science and hoping to impact the medical field in another manner. Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy!

you can practically learn everything for free or even at 1/10th the cost of a masters degree. One misses out on the brand name that's all but the industry is moving towards hiring skill oriented people than fancy degree holders

Checking the requirements of the job you want to have will give you an idea if u need masters or not. A lot of professions though value more hands on training. Also some companies when you get hired will even pay for your masters for professional development. You should have a clear career path in mind.

I still cannot believe the cost of education in the US. I recently finished my master of nursing in Canada and paid approx $8000 for the entire thing. Thus I was able to pay it off as I went and was not left with any debt.

You can teach yourself to code for free and then make 100k+ . This is a no brainer. Pursue your dreams but learn to code as a backup plan when things don't go your way.

Actually, the online learning model is more efficient and flexible compared with the traditional way, for example, once I wake up, I can open my compmuter to start the lecture without catching the bus to the campus, and you also have high quality recording, which you can revise again and again if you don't catch the points in class or you miss the lecture, This means that you can arrange your time more flexibly. I usually revise the coure content after I have reviewed the lecture note in details, it is very helpful. So in terms of learning knowledge itself, there is nothing wrong even better, But in terms of social life and meeting the leactuers and students, this is really bad. For a master course, you even don't have any chance to meet your cohort only by watching their names on the virtual meetings. And you don't have too many friends to talk with if your master unversity is at a new country. That is very suffering.

I am getting a bachelors in CS, and I want to get a masters. Not just for jobs, I actually have ambitions to maybe lecture one day.

As a lecturer, I can say that don't get a master degree except that you are going to work as an academician or that degree totally worth your career (like getting master degree if you need to get higher position in a company)! If you seek professional advancement, look for online courses that teach new skillset.

Probably not. But it’s going to depend on your major. I would only do it if my company pays for it or It will make me more Money (significantly more money)

Isn't the best answer it depends? Cost, networking, etc or whether your dream job requires an actual masters? I'm doing the 2nd half of my degree online bc of Covid but without one, no career opportunities period. That being said for most MA degrees you can learn a chunk of the material online....

It certainly depends on the industry and concentration. For industries such as accounting and Finance it’s certainly beneficial. My wife saw a 35k salary increase getting her master’s in accounting

Education is always going to reward you after short period of time. So invest in yourself people are not dumb to get educated.

Depends on what degree and how much 💰. If the company you work for pays for it, worth it.

I did my masters in person completely free. It was a 5 year BS/MS program and I got a stipend from my advisor for my project I did. My current job pays for up to a certain amount towards classes.