You've got a college degree. And a good job. But wheels are turning in your head about the possibility of going back to school, maybe even fueled by the release of our Best Graduate Schools Rankings. Is it time to earn an advanced degree?
Deciding whether to go back to school isn't easy, particularly if you have a reliable paycheck, which is more than many Americans can say in this struggling economy. But consider how education has shielded the more educated members of the workforce from the recession. In February, when the nation's unemployment rate was at 8.9 percent, workers with a bachelor's degree or more faced a jobless rate of less than half that, 4.3 percent.
"There is no question that, on average, people who have more education earn more and are unemployed less frequently," says Michael Greenstone, director of The Hamilton Project at The Brookings Institution, a non-partisan think tank. "Education is the classic way for people to invest in themselves."
But therein lies the catch: It's an investment. Advanced degrees can be pricey and time-consuming, and earning one often means stepping away from the life you've created.
So when's the right time to leave your job to pursue a degree? Or to start taking evening or online classes in addition to your day job? If you already have an undergraduate degree, is more schooling really necessary?
Regardless of the type of degree you're considering, here's what you should ask yourself when weighing the option to go back to school:
What do I want to do? Going back to school can be an effective way to advance within your field or jump-start a career change. In either case, go into the decision knowing your goals. Do you have a specific job you aspire to? A company you want to work for? A salary you'd like to make? Figuring out what you want can be the toughest part, but it's crucial to your success; if you know what you want, you can more easily figure out how to get there.
Above all else, make sure you're not going back to school because you're not sure what else to do, says Alexandra Levit, author of New Job, New You: A Guide to Reinventing Yourself in a Bright New Career and member of DeVry University's newly launched Career Advisory Board. "A lot of young professionals ... go back to school because it's comfortable," Levit says. "You want to make sure you're really doing some soul-searching before making that move."
To read the full story written by Alexis Grant ofU.S. News & World Report, please clickhere.
