We start making career decisions the moment we are asked by our parents whether if we want to go to college or not. This is one of the most crucial decisions we make, and it will dictate our future. But some wonder whether they should go to college later in their careers or even consider going back to school.
These questions usually create more questions than answers. But in this article, we will explore whether if it’s truly worth getting a degree later in your career or should you concentrate more on making money for your eventual retirement.
College Degrees Are a Social Norm
First, let’s talk about how degrees are a social norm in the U.S. Only 39% of the overall population has achieved a bachelor’s degree or higher in the U.S. As you go into higher education, such as a Master’s degree or a Doctorate’s degree, only very few of the population has such degrees. This is why it’s such a coveted achievement and why many parents want their children to go to college. This eventually made it a social norm for teenagers to go to college.
The number of graduates decreases as age increases, especially for courses that aren’t academic in nature. For example, more people would pursue a Master’s and Doctorate in Physics than a Master’s in business administration. However, more people have graduated with an MBA than Physics graduates.
Why is that? This is where we have to talk about the next challenge in going to school late back into your career: difficulty.
A Difficult Road
Going back to school in the later parts of your career makes it more challenging for you. This challenge increases depending on the route you have taken in life. As stated earlier, far more people have graduated with an MBA than a Master’s in Physics. But overall, time management is one of the biggest challenges you’ll ever face.
Once you’ve invested time and effort in your career, you’ll discover that you get more exhausted doing it. Sure, you might love it the first few years because of the challenge it entails, but eventually, you’ll learn to think that it’s work. This applies when going back to school. Again, you might like it the first few times, but you’ll eventually get tired of it.
But there is something new about going back to college this year. There are now new options for students.
New Options for Students
There are now many options for different degrees today. Some of them are even offered online. For example, you can now acquire a doctorate in information technology online. This particular course can offer online options simply because IT is mostly integrated with the digital world today. There is also a reliance on online tech when it comes to this course. However, you can’t take the same degree when it comes to science like Psychology. Human interaction is important for this course, and your experience comes from that.
The digital option can make it look attractive for you to get your master’s degree. It also makes it so much easier for you to achieve it while doing work simultaneously. Another thing you should think about is the investment.
Going Back to School Is an Investment
Ultimately, going back to school is an investment that is making for yourself and your career. Going back to school means increasing your current knowledge and skills. It also means being mentored by someone more experienced than you.
You should then consider whether if this investment is worth it or not. Of course, you’ll probably be in debt again the moment you step back to your alma mater, but does that matter? Yes, because going back to school doesn’t always end up with a happy ending.
If you don’t get your financials right, you’re going to fail in this investment. On the other hand, you might make it to the last year of your degree, realizing that you’ve pushed your financials too thin. There are too many college graduates out there who have done this. Most of them have not made a singular cent in ten years because they’re too busy paying school fees.
But this should not deter you. Given the right financial planning, you’ll be able to achieve a much higher ROI investing in higher education than stocks and bonds. For example, it has been found that a bachelor’s degree has an ROI of 14% compared to the ROI of stocks and bonds. The returns also happen much faster. Moreover, it gets higher the moment you’ve graduated with a master’s or doctorate.
Before going back to school, you should remember that it’s a difficult road and a huge investment from your side. There is considerable risk in doing it, but the returns are substantially higher than long-term investments in stocks and bonds. Moreover, online options will help you manage your time much easier depending on the course you’re taking. If you keep these things in mind, you should be able to decide whether going back to school right now is worth doing or not.