Posted on 09/15/2007 4:19:30 AM PDT by shrinkermd
The number of students in the University of Chicago program that bestows a Master of Arts degree in social sciences has quadrupled since 1989, jumping to 160 from 40, and despite a tuition price tag of $37,000, every year more students clamor for admittance.
“It’s an expensive degree, but students have calculated how fast they get their investment back,” said John J. MacAloon, an associate dean at the University of Chicago and director of the program. “And it is beneficial for the university because there is a lot of tuition income to be had.”
More students than ever have started master’s programs this fall, and universities are seeing those programs as potentially lucrative sources of revenue. The number of students earning these degrees around the country has nearly doubled since 1980. Since 1970, the growth is 150 percent, more than twice as fast as bachelor and doctorate programs.
“Master’s programs are the most obvious targets of opportunity,” said George L. Mehaffy, a vice president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. “The degrees are in high demand, and this is an optimal time to enter or expand the market.”
For students, the degrees are often expensive; at private universities, many students take out $50,000 in loans for every year of school. And scholarships and fellowships are rare, unlike doctoral programs, which are usually fully financed by universities.
Still, many say the price is worth it. In his two-year master’s program in science technology and environmental policy from the University of Minnesota Craig Nelson had $35,000 in loans. Now, he works in regulatory affairs at the 3M Company
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I agree. I don’t know what the answer is, but it’s really out of control with tuition being what it is. From the perspective of ‘humanities’, one could certainly buy a lot of books, travel the world, visit museums, art institutes, etc. etc. for significantly less money than they are paying to have some one else tell them what to read. That approach certainly wouldn’t work for every subject that people attend universities to study, but certainly seems like a more than viable option for some of the humanities.
Associate of Science in Nursing $20,000. Pay off 22-40 dollars/hr, and the ability to get a job in any state.
This will not last. People stay in school when job opportunities are scarce. But retiring baby boomers are expected to create a sellers market in jobs. That said, most MA programs are just two more years of college, and social sciences is just an unhappy coalition of disciplines that don’t have much in common.
I am not at all convinced an “advanced” degree meas one is erudite. I know many who have Masters and PhD’s and are clueless dolts.
What you said X 10.
PhD's are like any other professions and sort themselves out on a bell curve distribution. A few are original thinkers and researchers, Most are followers.
Depends on the field. A well-trained chimp can get a PhD in Education or sociology, and I know a few who have. It's a whole lot harder to obtain one in math, physics, chemistry, neuroscience, or any of the other hard-science areas, and you have to be a pretty smart cookie to earn one there.
Girlfriend of mine got her doctorate from the University of Amsterdam. She had to defend her dissertation in a 500-year-old cathedral, with all her family and friends flying over from the US to sit in the pews and watch; she and the dissertation committee were all dressed in white tie and tails. Talk about pressure! The work she was presenting was truly unique and made a valuable contribution to human knowledge, which is the purpose of awarding a PhD.
It’s become pay to play. A shakedown racket that has little to do with education and everything to do with elitism.
Despite academia’s professed desire to ensure all a higher education, their core sense of superiority cringes. What’s the point of being a member of a club if anyone can join? Upping the price of admission was a quick and effective way to do that, with the bonus of lining the coffers. But now they find themselves still left with the status issue—a matter of far greater concern for the ivory tower.
When J.C. Penney starts carrying labels the country club set favors, that’s the end of that trend. When custom home accoutrements become available in-stock at Home Depot, it’s time to declare that style passe.
With price of admission no longer sufficient barrier to the flood of commoners running around with the Ph.d logo on their shirts, their whole universe is threatened. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the creation of a brand new advanced degree with which academia can preserve their status and cachet.
I ask a simple question: Where is the champion to drive down costs and improve quality? Much of university knowledge can be commoditized. I think there is much potential to utilize online delivery, low cost learning centers, standardized exit exams, differing service levels, industrial partnerships, and other initiatives to drive down costs and improve quality. Higher education is an industry ripe for an attack. Higher education at the undergraduate and masters levels is bloated with physical plant, overhead, and replication of services.
Why has a champion of lower costs and higher quality not appeared? Cracking higher education has some substantial barriers: accreditation, public perception, startup capital, educational establishment (public and private), and bold thinking. There is a vibrant market for industrial certification in many fields of information technology, engineering, and business. It seems that a champion could come from these areas.
In New York, however, one cannot retain their employment as a teacher without getting their masters.
It’s possible an MA would be worth something, but I don’t see how unless it’s an MBA, except for positions in gov’t or on contract to gov’t. If it’s a milestone on the way to a PhD, okay. An MS takes a fairly high level of mental functioning and might indicate something in itself, and with an appropriate State certification could become the key to independent market success without relying on gov’t contracts.
The aristocracy grnerally departed the universe when they let the middle class run the show; It will soon be the peasants.
Been there, done that, except my ASN cost me about $500 out of pocket (I already had a BS degree, and got tuition reimbursement from my employer , AND I got my degree 18+ years ago). Best investment of time and money I ever made.
Agreed. I have come across many folks who were educated beyond their intelligence.
Agreed. I have come across many folks who were educated beyond their intelligence.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.