<p>My daughter is deciding between pursuing a BA or a BFA, with the knowledge that she will likely need a masters degree if she goes the former route. I had a family friend--a retired college counselor--tell me that a college degree today is just a "base," like a high school degree used to be, and most people at a certain level expect to earn a masters. In other words, "just" a bachelors degree is a little...suspect. Thoughts???</p>
<p>Depends a lot on the field. Also the country.</p>
<p>Much depends on your interest, talents, and luck.</p>
<p>My son has done very well with just a BA (economics). Declined to go for further study, which could have been JD, MBA, or PhD. Made a unique career drawing on his core skills (statistics, journalistic writing) and interests (sports in particular). He would have been wasting his time getting another degree unless he wanted a career in business or academia. My daughter has done well but in fits and starts with a BFA followed by an MBA/MS as she develops her career in sustainable design. She did need the added degrees for both the skills acquired and the credentials to get into the career line she’s taken.</p>
<p>I manage a small technical department in a utility. There is no reason for anyone in my position to have a masters degree. Having said that, I fully expect that when I retire the position will be filled with someone who has a MS. Why? Because they can. Credential Creep.</p>
<p>I hire for a living and I see a LOT of young people who have what I’d describe as useless Master’s degrees. They graduate from college with no idea of what they want to do- and they’ve been in school for 16 years, so back to school they go.</p>
<p>I think what your friend is observing is that lots of people with Master’s degrees are currently in jobs that used to be held by people with just a BA but that doesn’t mean you need a Master’s to get those jobs.</p>
<p>If your D has an actual plan- let’s take library science- yes, she needs an MLS for any of the interesting jobs with advancement potential in library science. But this isn’t news- this is a 30 or 40 year old phenomenon.</p>
<p>If she doesn’t have a plan, she’s got four years in college to formulate one. Will she need a Master’s to teach in a public school system? Yes. Will she need grad school to become a lawyer? Yes, a JD.</p>
<p>Does she need a Master’s in human resources or a Master’s in Real Estate management? Not for most jobs-- and an MBA is a more versatile degree anyway to work in corporate America. Does she need a Master’s to become a social worker? Yes.</p>
<p>So it depends. And the BFA route- that’s a substantially different path, and you’d be surprised by the number of kids who do a BFA and THEN get an MFA because they don’t know what they want to do or can’t get a job!!! so this does not solve your D’s problem in any way…</p>
<p>@blossom - you need a Master’s to become a social worker? Seriously? I’m not insulting the position of social worker, but I thought it was one of the worst paid jobs out there, and you need to get a Master’s Degree? Wow.</p>
<p>I am a copywriter in Marketing and Advertising. I’ve worked for 6 six different companies and have never had a problem getting a job with a BA. Marketing managers tend to get MBAs, but not always right away, and it tends to be if they want to get promoted to Director, etc. </p>
<p>^^^^. That is by FAR and away the number one reason why people are in grad school. Yes, there are several reasons why people need to go for GS. The only ones I think are absolutely needed-psychology, biology, chemistry,med school. An MBA is only really beneficial if you have 3-5 years of professional work experience. You need it in order to really understand the classes. I dont like to say anything is worthless but those are the only ones that are needed to be good at your field per se</p>
<p>Those who end up as CPA also usually have graduate degrees because they need 150 credits in order to sit for the CPA exam. For this reason, my daughter is working on her MBA. But if she didn’t get a grad assistantship (which is helping to pay for this MBA), she’d be at county college earning the extra credits needed for the exam. </p>
<p>My daughter who is a nurse will not get a gradaute degree as it’s not needed unless you want to go into management (which she will never do). </p>
<p>I am personally dismayed by this credential creep. It’s so unnecessary. </p>
<p>I felt this “credential creep” 25 years ago when I was fresh out of college. All of my friends were going to law or medical school, and I felt weird with just a bachelors. I did end up getting my MS in journalism a couple of years later, which while a great experience was not exactly mandatory.</p>
<p>BTW, some schools offer a tuition-free Masters to some of their undergrads. Clark and Rochester come to mind.</p>
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<p>@bookreader I agree! It’s ridiculous how people have to get totally unneeded, expensive and time-consuming Master’s degrees. I remember when I used to hire copywriters. One of my best hires never went to college. But her portfolio was great. She was an obviously great marketing writer. Who cared if she went to college?? </p>
<p>I usually don’t post but this is my pet peeve really I wish some one would tell me why a PT needs a PHD to practice an OT needs a MS. You are seeing a credential creep in almost all medical fields. A pharmacist program went from a 5 year program now to a 7 year. </p>
<p>I am so glad that I graduated when I did, I would have found it hard to know that I would have minimum 5-7 more years of schooling for basically a career with not much advancement. </p>
<p>My D1 has a very good job (managing 25 people at this point, 2 years out of school) with just a BA (in humanities subjects!). Her boyfriend is doing very well in one of the large consulting firms with a BA in Econ as well. She is weight a Master because her field is higher education, and she knows it is hard to be taken seriously without extra letters behind your name. Her BF is considering an MBA, but I don’t think he really needs it – I think he just always had it in his head he would get one.</p>
<p>@intparent:</p>
<p>Regarding the MBA, there’s likely no need unless he wants to change careers, in which case, one from a top school would be quite helpful. If his company pays for an MBA and he enjoys his career, I would seriously consider a PT MBA from Booth, Kellogg, or Haas (all 3 have weekend as well as evening programs).</p>
<p>Well, you and I know that. He isn’t my kid, not mine to advise, though. :)</p>
<p>Degree inflation yes. On the other side of the spectrum, some are not doing bachelor’s at all. As more and more people go to college, it loses its value, so those who finish may feel they can distinguish themselves with a master’s in the same way a bachelor’s used to do, others start to feel the first degree isn’t worth that much and don’t go.</p>
<p>Some people truly love school or need the skills and have the money to go. In the arts, getting a doctorate has become one of the only ways to continue and have at least a stipend to live on. (But few master’s programs offer that funding.)</p>
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<p>The problem is that the high school diploma is being devalued even more than the bachelor’s degree is being devalued.</p>
<p>In NY you don’t need a masters to be a social worker in the public sector. They prefer undergrad degrees in certain social science areas.</p>
<p>An MSW is required to do many forms of social work, including clinical practice. This has been the case for along time. In my state, to be able to bill an insurance company for therapy as a social worker, one must have a masters, 2 years of supervision by a more highly licensed clinician postmasters, and pass a higher level licensing exam as well. Continuing education is required to retain the state license. Some public sector jobs are different and some people who have no degree, but do some form of social services, call themselves a social worker in a generic way. If I were seeking clinical services, I would want to know what the training and degree of the therapist was. </p>
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<p>I think this requirement varies a lot by state (for example, in Michigan you currently don’t need 150 hours to sit for the exam) and the requirements change all the time (or so it seems). My D has her CPA and she “only” has a bachelor’s degree, but as I recall the rules for her state changed the year that she passed her exams. D says that about half of the CPAs at her workplace have their master’s, and it doesn’t matter whether you have a bachelor’s or a master’s, the pay is exactly the same. All that matters is passing the CPA exam.</p>