If you ’re considering pursuing an sophisticated point after college , watch out : Not all postgraduate degrees are created equal . While it ’s authoritative to follow your passion , some degrees are more likely than others to offer you with stable , lucrative career opportunities .
Fortunecommissioned PayScale to crunch the numbers on which graduate degrees ( both M.A.s and Ph . D.s ) were the least and most useful , free-base on four factor : foresighted - terminus voltage for job ontogeny , average earnings at mid - career or 10 years experience , job satisfaction , and tension levels . Most of the available research about the relative benefit and drawbacks of different grade program focus on item-by-item details like income likely orjob availability . PayScale attempted a more holistic attack , weighing quantitative details like income against qualitative characteristics like overall line of work satisfaction .
Overall , they find that STEM degree were the most useful , with graduates by - and - great finding high - paying , low stress jobs . Degrees in fields like biometry , computer science , and economics toppedFortune ’s leaning , while humanistic discipline , immortal , and education degrees were on the bottom . While a captain ’s in biometrics is associated with a medial salary of $ 105,900 , according to PayScale , a master ’s in early puerility education will make you a mere $ 48,700 .
However , it ’s important to observe that while the point bearer on the bottom of the PayScale list consistently made less and often noted eminent tenseness tier , many also said their job offer extremely high level of satisfaction . For instance , 83 percent of those with master ’s degrees in former childhood education were highly slaked with their jobs , as were 87 percentage of those with a master ’s in reading and literacy , and a full 95 per centum of those with a degree in pastoral ministry .
Additionally , asFortunenotes , graduate school can be an expensive endeavor . So while liken level programs , before you institutionalise in your software , also weigh whether the cost is deserving it . Check out the five most and least useful graduate degree below , and see the full leaning with all the stats onFortune .
Most Useful :
M.A. , BiostatisticsM.A. , StatisticsPh . D. , Computer SciencePh . D. , EconomicsM.A. , Applied Mathematics
Least Useful :
Master of Fine Arts ( MFA)M.A. , Early Childhood EducationMaster of Divinity ( MDiv ) tied with M.A. , Elementary EducationM.A. , Reading and LiteracyM.A. , Theology
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