For subscribers
Is your master’s degree useless?
New data shows a shockingly high proportion of courses are a waste of money.
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Students have put up with these fees in part because they assume that lofty credentials will usually increase their earnings.
ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
The Economist
Follow topic:
In the coming months, millions of people across the Northern Hemisphere will apply to do postgraduate study. Most will top up an undergraduate qualification with a one- or two-year master’s degree, in the hope that this will set them apart in a job market crowded with bachelor’s degrees.
“The No. 1 reason people get these degrees is insecurity,” reckons Mr Bob Shireman of The Century Foundation, a left-leaning think-tank in New York. “They worry that in order to get a job – or keep their own jobs – they need a master’s degree.”
