<p>Some companies pay for their employees' masters if they decide it's worth the investment. Does anyone have any details on this? I have always been research inclined, but I have absolutely no money to pay for a masters, and I don't want to go into debt.</p>
<p>so if you're under a program like this:
1. does the company make you sign a contract that basically tells you they own you?
2. is this only restricted to public schools with cheap instate tuition and are really easy to get in?
3. how much of the expenses do they cover?</p>
<p>I got two masters degrees completely paid for by companies I worked for. The benefits vary from company to company of course but most of the time, companies will reimburse you for classes that you take towards a degree that is related to your job. The school didn’t matter as long as it was accredited. </p>
<p>Often there are restrictions on grades (like they’ll pay for 100% of a class in which you get an A or B, but only 50% for a C, and nothing if you get a D or F). Sometimes there is a cap to how much they’ll reimburse you for each year…like 5K or 10K per year in classes. At one company, they paid for books but most of the time it was tuition only. And in every case, I had to pay upfront and then was reimbursed.</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of a company making you sign something saying they “own” you.</p>
<p>I interned at a certain large aerospace company, and they paid up to 14k per year for their employee’s to get their masters. The masters had to be in an engineering related field. Employees had to be stay with company at least two years after completion of the degree. Most took 1-2 classes at a time, and thus they could afford any college they got into (by paying for part time/per unit).</p>
<p>Another large aerospace company had the same policy, except you must stay four years after completion of the degree.</p>
<p>And finally, a smaller (but still large) company would pay only 4k per year which limited you to cheaper local state colleges but didn’t force you to stay with the company after completion of the degree.</p>
<p>Thus each company is different. And usually larger companies have better policies.</p>
<p>interesting. thanks for all the info. more info is welcome, of course.</p>
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<p>I was just wondering. If they wanted people with masters degrees, why don’t they just hire people with masters degrees, instead of paying for a masters. But I suppose they have to pay a higher salary to those who have masters. Do they give you pay raises when you come back? Also, were you placed in a different division after receiving your masters (eg. r&d)? Lastly, is this process selective, or completely voluntary?</p>
<p>Sorry that I am completely clueless. It’s just that things are crazy around end of semester, and I only have time to post on here for some quick info.</p>
If you want to do academic research, have you considered applying to PhD programs? They are usually funded (I get a full tuition waiver, health insurance and $30K/year) and you can start a PhD with a Bachelor’s degree in most disciplines.</p>
<p>that was my plan initially. But I am currently on my 4th straight semester of classes due to an intense summer semester. At this point, I’m really sick of school. I understand that PhD is mostly about research, but it’s also a big commitment. you’re essentially committing 5 years of your life to a narrow area of science that’s of little relevance to most areas of industry (or academia for that matter). I realize that you have to really love your research to do a phd, and right now, I don’t, not really anyway.</p>