What degree did you get and how much are you paid? Is it worth it?

15 comments

  1. It’s kind of an odd question because not a lot jobs will just automatically pay you more for acquiring a degree if you’re already doing the job.

    That being said I work for the state of CA and having a degree will allow you to start in higher paying brackets for job classification’s.

    I only have an Associates and will top out at $120k eventually just by getting my yearly raises but if I had a Bachelors I would have started at a higher bracket and topped out sooner but I also have zero student debt.

  3. It’s hard to answer for a lot of people because a lot of degrees are your ticket into the field and there really is no ability to work in the field without the degree. I’m currently in university to become a university music professor, and it’s pretty much unheard of these days to find a music professor at a university being hired who doesn’t have a DMA or PhD. The music director at my old tiny community college had a DMA even, and all the other staff worked part time and had masters. So there really is no way to compare pre degree to post degree as there is no pre degree positions.

  4. Yes. I’m 20-something woman making six figures working from home in my pajamas every day with flexible hours.

    (Just have to attend meetings and meet my deadlines. When I schedule those meetings and what hours I’m working to meet those deadlines is up to my discretion).

    I work in product management for a biotech company.

    I would not have gotten this position without my biochem degree.

  5. I recently retired from a position managing road construction projects. I could have eventually wound up with the same title, at the same pay, by working my way up through the ranks. The engineering degree made it much easier to get hired, though, and put me on a much faster track.

  6. Yes. I have a PhD and even though I’m a part-time college instructor, my PhD increased my pay. It also made negotiating for salary in consulting positions a lot easier. That said, academia pays poorly so I’m not swimming in money.

  8. Yes — but not as much as you would think.

    I needed a degree to get promoted at my old job; once I was promoted, my pay increased by $1.50/hour. I was still part-time and worked another job that did not require a degree and did not promote me for getting one (sad!).

    My new job, I am full-time and make an additional $5/hour — but I live in a more expensive area, and the cost of benefits (health insurance and retirement contributions) alone ate up most of that raise, and inflation ate the rest.

  9. Yes.

    The most I made before going to college was like $30k working as a call center rep for a cell phone company. My first job out of college was for $70k, and it’s gone up substantially since then.

    My degree was in computer engineering and I’ve worked as a software engineer ever since. It was absolutely worth it for me.

  10. I did a college paper on the correlation between income and higher education.

    On average, yes. There’s factors that, of course, plays a factor in how much a person can expect to make after obtaining a specific degree, but it can be a pretty reliable way to increase your income.

  13. Absolutely not. Not only has no one asked about my degree ever, it holds no value for professional certifications of any kind and I dont think anyone hires someone with a 2 year engineering degree.

  15. Getting a degree allowed me to get a higher paying job. I couldn’t qualify for the job I wanted without one.

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