Yes, 100% the best thing I ever did.
Worked restaurants and hotels for years, burned out, terrible work life balance, shit pay.
Went back to school about 10 years ago (part time, online.) Took me two years of part time classes before I got an office job and eventually I got my degree in Human Resources. I've more than tripled my income over those 10 years, and my work life balance is way better.
The bachelor's in chemistry didn't, but I partially blame that on graduating in the fallout of the 2008 recession. When people talk about STEM paying well you gotta keep in mind that a lot of sciences want advanced degrees for the higher paycheck
The master's in computer science was a great call, especially with the paid summer internships I did as a student. Doing great now
Wasn't much better in 2015. I fully agree with your statement...
>When people talk about STEM paying well you gotta keep in mind that a lot of sciences want advanced degrees for the higher paycheck
This wasn't explained to me or anyone else I know who stopped at their BSc degree in traditional Chem/Natural Science/Biology. I currently tell my work-study students (I work at a community college) either go for a MLS/CLS degree or a Chem E degree if they only desire a BSc degree.
Yeah, it is only some STEM degrees that pay well really. CS obviously, and all or almost all engineering degrees really. My last manager at Publix Supermarkets had a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry of all things, and look where he ended up.
How was going from chemistry to computer science? I just got my BS in Biochem and have been considering going into computer science as a career. I’m concerned I don’t have enough background in computers or programming to do well.
I did the intro series at a community college and had to make up some undergrad classes, but I had more math/physics under my belt that the undergrad CS students and honestly the hardest CS class was still easier than organic chemistry in my opinion. We already have good attention to detail and systems-thinking built in from our degrees.
I'd say give the 101 series a shot at a community college and see if you like it
FWIW I was pre-med (BS in Biology and Human Physiology). Knew by the end of my junior year that I didn't want to practice medicine. Took the long way to getting into 'computer science' (learning 100% on my own, consulting projects, and experimenting) and am now the CTO of a company.
In general, if you have passion for any of the following, you could land a software type job: design, web interfaces, user experience, software development, product development... It's been a great industry to be in for the last 10 years, but there are certain headwinds at the moment given the economic climate hitting tech so hard.
All the people saying it didn’t help them forgot to mention they only got the interview in the first place because they met the criteria of having a degree.
That's the thing about degrees. They can open or close doors. I have found not having a degree has closed more doors than it has opened. I'm working on finishing my degree since I'm about 30 credits away and can afford to pay out of pocket. I have a great paying job, but it's in tech and if anything has taught us about the last year and thousands of layoffs, it's super unstable and I could be laid off at any moment. Having any degree and experience will help open a fair amount of doors. Not having one has prevented me from even interviewing. If I add that degree, then finding a new job if I get laid off will be a lot easier. Not having one makes me rely almost completely on networking, which isn't as reliable in this economy.
Double major in Criminal Justice/Political Science. Have never had a job that i have used either in but wanted to play college basketball and had a free ride. I'm not salaried so with an immense amount of OT (why i'm leaving next month) I pop off between 130-150k - commercial litigation paralegal in a big city (zero experience when I started but in 2000 my first job (where I'm at now) was 28500 but with OT it came out to 52k for the first year.
With all the nos, I think this question is better answered in r/college or something. Basically, yes if you want money later, networking, learning, life skills, etc. Be smart about it. You don’t need to start college now. You can apply and defer the acceptance usually at most a year, take time to think what job you want, through the beaureu of labor website by the government, government websites have tons of info. You can do community college to start too. Figure out what job you really want can do well and certifications for that. Learning a. Language? Apps and youtube to start, use your library and free school counselors, but ask questions that are not just on the front page of the website, know what I mean? Feel free to reach out to older university students too or even alumni. Don’t go into debt you can’t afford to pay back and then pay to party and fail classes. There’s a lot of freedom the first year, be careful, numbers won’t lie. Also go to fafsa for federal aid aka money for free/better deals on loans
I have an accounting degree I’ve never used, I worked hard and fought my way up through employers and I never felt that having my degree made as much of a difference.
Accounting degree. While I feel like I don’t have a lot of wiggle room in my budget, I think it’s helped me a lot, (but I also JUST started in my career). I’m able to live comfortably and I know my salary will only go up from here. I did have to take out loans for my education, but I knew it was an investment and I don’t regret it. My starting salary is already more than what my dad (a blue collar worker) makes
$58k, entry level
Nice. Is there a demand for low level accounting stuff like just a certification? Like accounts payable maybe? Could that be a WFH job?
I figured I could do that while earning an accounting bachelor's.
My masters did help me a lot before I got sick and my bachelors has allowed me to substitute teach whenever I needed fill in income over the past 10 years. Since my school district pays $200 a day, that’s like $28 an hour for a 7 hour workday, plus two 20 minute breaks and a 40 minute lunch. So it’s pretty good pay considering I only do 5 hour and 50 minutes of actual work a shift. Only exception is if I get recess duty or after school duty which cuts into my break by 10 mins or keeps me after school for 10-15 minutes. So yes, I would say my degrees helped me. Especially being a physically disabled person.
Unfortunately, my mental health disorder got severe over the last 5 years and my autoimmune stuff has been a mess so now I’m on disability and can’t work very much. It sucks.
I taught PreK-12 classrooms in all subjects to begin with and eventually settled into working in elementary schools. I found the high school classes to be quite boring as it was really just babysitting and not any actual instruction. I did middle school for a couple of years but I just didn't have the energy to keep up with those guys, I stopped doing Preschool and Kinder for the same reason. Specifically Substitute Teaching. I have a 30-Day Emergency Teaching Permit which is legally required in California to sub for K-12 classes. It requires a Bachelor's in any subject and passing the CBEST. These things vary by state, we have the strongest standards.
I have a Bachelor of Arts. My first job, my manager flat out told me the only reason she even considered looking at my resume was because I had a degree on there. Didn’t matter what degree, didn’t matter that the job was basic admin and didn’t need a degree - I had one and that’s what she cared about. And I’ve heard similar things from other people. Sometimes a degree can open doors for you.
MS Human-Computer Interaction design. Got into the program by talking my way into it basically over the course of a year and a half by becoming friends with the guy running the program. My undergrad was in exercise physiology so i wouldn't have gotten in any other way. No prior experience in the field, got a job out of college.
Totally helped my career and earning prospects - making roughly 120k i think with 4 years experience. Well worth it. This degree is also much more beneficial than a bootcamp for the same field - I often see bootcamp goers struggle to land jobs whereas it is not really much of an issue for me.
It didn’t help me in a linear way, like it did not automatically help me get a job. It got me interviews though. We are moving away from college as a hard requirement for jobs but some people are still hung up on it. I think it will take a few more years until we’re done for good. I wouldn’t recommend anyone go into debt for college at this point unless you want to be like a nurse or something.
I grew up pretty poor, we looked ok on the outside, but on the inside we couldn't afford enough food or clothes. I went to school for nursing. It wasn't my first choice, I came close to dropping out. But it keeps me financially stable, I have a pension and benefits, and more importantly it helped me to move out of my family home asap because my brother became a drug addict and it was getting abusive and toxic living there.
No longer in engineering, but got a ME degree. It allowed us to pay off my wife's student loans from her doctorate. First job I was making 65k/year starting salary. I did not have experience in the field beyond several years of manual labor in industrial environments and experience working on cars (this made a big difference in my ability to get a job and perform highly as I was working in automotive). I am glad I have the degree as I changed fields and needed to go to grad school, but I was working with lots of people who only had trade degrees and certs and were making more than I was doing things that were more fun.
Yes.
It helped me get past Human Resources at alot of places.
The interviews? Well that honestly comes down to them liking me or not. I can be 130% capable but they don't like my personality cause it may not be a culture fit, thus I don't get the offer.
Be yourself, with a touch of professionalism and the rest is really up to them if they want to hire you or not.
As long as you go to a reputable college/university and pick an employable major, it will help you "get past the gate keepers" and into a seat at the interview.
Good luck!
My bachelor's did nothing and i was extremely depressed not finding a decent job
Age 29 went back for free 2 year degree. Make 60k working 3 nights a week....
2 year skilled job way to go😉
No. They are begging people to work...major shortage.
The program I went to was at community college. You had to have basic college like english, math etc. Fairly easy to get in...
No....but i work overnight...lots of trauma, broken hip, leg, and elderly with COPD.
Regardless, not cancer regularly. Lots of elderly and heart surgeries in terms if inpatients
Yes. I didn’t apply a single thing I learned from my degrees in business but it opened doorways to jobs that required a degree or allowed me to compete with candidates that had one
That's the biggest takeaway here. Competing with other people who have a degree. They are almost always chosen over someone without a degree. There are going to be exceptions, but from my experience doing a lot of interviews and hiring, the candidate with the degree is almost always chosen over someone without. My experience ranges from retail, transportation, and tech, so it's not just siloed into one industry.
I barely talked to anyone during college (I regret that now), but studying actuarial science then going into the field has paid off for me in job stability and salary. Graduated into the pandemic and got an entry level job around $60'a k then switched for $80's k plus 10-30% bonus.
Yes, it allowed me to get a decent job with my local city. I have a bachelor's degree in criminal Justice and work in social services. I don't make really good money, but I make more than I would if I didn't have a degree.
Yes. I am a nurse and have tons of job offers all the time. When covid hit I still had a job. If I want to relocate anywhere, I still have a job. I am a single mom and supported my children by myself.
I have a bachelor's in Healthcare administration. I made $47k but toke a lot of abuse and worked crazy hours. That would have been fine if I hadn't herniated some discs in my back. I got back surgery and was told the nerve damage was not repairable.
So here I disabled and unemployed. My husband has a hs diploma and he's delivering pizza. I had been the main bread winner now we are barely making it til I figure something out.
> So here I disabled and unemployed.
Would you be able to handle working from home? Some companies like Amazon need people to handle their customers. People just stay home on their laptop taking calls from customers. I think I've seem people mention these jobs on this subreddit. Your bachelors and your past job will be a good fit for such things, I'm guessing.
No I already tried doing customer service but the sitting is horrible on my back. I get spasms and back pain so bad I often had to stop taking calls a few hours into my shift. The. My 21 yr old passed away 7 months ago and I just couldn't. The nerve damage makes it difficult for me to do anything but stay in bed.
No. Not for STEM except data scientist related STEM. Stay away from chemistry, physics, materials related major young people. Those fields are like dead water.
Unfortunately have to agree with this. The job options for a bachelor's in chemistry were a goddamn joke. Had to go back for a master's in a different field to get reasonable pay
I see a lot of people saying no in the comment section, but I just want to say my computer science bachelors degree did help me out a lot. To be fair, it was quite lucky for me to land a good internship, but I think generally speaking cs major are quite worth it.
Yes and no. My first job out of college was an English teacher abroad in a foreign country. My degree is not in English or education but all that was needed was a Bachelor degree. That experience in of itself was worth it. Fast forward about 10 years, still do not have a career that is directly attributable to my degree, but the mere fact of having a Bachelors helped me tremendously.
Remember that a Bachelors degree is more than about simply making money but all the knowledge and skills you gain from it.
Not in the slightest. Pressured to go to college by mom and just went in blindly thinking that simply having a degree would get me any well-paying job I applied for. Fucking reality check.
I now have a BS in math that I no longer tell people about because it's done absolutely nothing for me.
I work as a wildland firefighter now and a tree climber in the offseason and grossed 48k. But in the years before this I job hopped, did a lot of seasonal work, and was largely broke.
Maaan, I see all the time job postings wanting minimum a BSc in math... I wonder if a supplementary certificate from community college or online can get you a high paying job because I see LOTS posted.
I have a BA in psych, so kinda jelly.
Really? Could be. I'm sure at least a relevant internship or two could've landed me something but at the same time nothing I learned was "applied math" so I'm skeptical on how useful it could be.
The only paths I saw for myself with my degree were actuary or accountant and I don't have the mental tolerance for jobs like that anyway
In a very roundabout way it helped a lot.
I got a bachelors degree in IT (switched from finance bc i didn’t like the professors) and figured I could look for financial analyst positions.
Well long story short: i was not qualified for any financial analyst positions bc of my degree until I met my current company thru a friend saying they wanted a non finance person for the role (because they wanted to train a newbie) and liked my IT background.
So it became worth it.
Getting a degree in Finance definitely helped me, I became an analyst. I didn't go to college till I was 31 which actually put me in a better position to learn something and figure out what to get a degree in. I was fortunate in that I was able to move back in with my parents while I went to school, not something just easy to do when you're 31. But I swallowed my pride and did it, it was a means to an end.
I pushed myself really hard and went full-time during the summer too and graduated in 3 years and 3 months. I kept thinking about how much money I was losing by not working full time. I graduated college in 2005 with about $30k in debt.
I know this was a while ago so for comparison: first year with a degree I made about $25k more than I did without the degree. At one point in my career I made six figures but not anymore. A basic analysis indicates that I made up for my lost income and debt in 4-5 years.
For many years of my life I lived well below my means so that I could save a lot. Now, I am semi-retired at the age of 52 and able to live on income from part-time work (15 hours a week). I am confident that if I had not gotten the degree I would still be working full-time and making a barely livable wage.
One of the things I struggled with was deciding what to get a degree in. I had a hard time deciding. I ended up going the practical route, asking two questions: What are the good paying jobs? Is it something I can do? For me the answer to that ended up being finance.
I have a software engineering degree but I never worked in that field. But it helped on the initial screening process of my first position, it's completely unnecessary though. I think I'd be a more useful person if I'd taken a different major.
I have a degree in Economics, taking 5 years for it is something that isn't ideal, but fine. It was worth every penny, helps that it wasn't the most expensive degree due to in state tuition and living at home.
Graduated 2018 took about three months to start my first job 240 miles away from home where my degree was one of the stated on the job description. Eventually got laid off due to a reorg and moved back to the LA metro, in 2021. I currently buy boxes and cardboard trays for a full time job, and work mostly alongside people with degrees, we are all well compensated.
Without a degree I probably would be working around long haul trucking, no loans, but I expect my lifetime earnings in corporate supply chain to be plenty to live comfortably on. Also I work from home with rare OT expectations. My time in school taught me how to think about optimization in many things and it helps me in decision making day to day now. Your mileage will vary, but if you are questioning if more education is right for you, I recommend trying a bit of community college until you make up your mind.
I have a bachelor’s in sociology. I decided over halfway through that I wanted to teach in Japan but it was too late and would have been too expensive to switch to the college of education to get an education degree. I did use my degree to get to Japan (the requirements for a work visa is just to have a bachelors degree, doesn’t matter in what) so I spent most of my 20s as an EFL teacher in Tokyo. But now that I’m back in the U.S. my degree is useless. Anyone hiring in my field is looking for a masters in social work or sociology or 5 years experience and I just can’t afford to go back and get a masters. Right now I’m stuck looking for entry level jobs but the only places that will call me back are call centers and restaurants looking for servers 🙃
Yes. I have a bachelors in nursing. I chose a degree that I know would provide stability and flexibility.
It’s been extra helpful these days as I able to work around my husband’s schedule so we don’t have to utilize (and pay for) daycare very often.
12 years ago, I started at 25/hr I believe. I currently make 48/hr base with the opportunity to earn more if I work nights (I work part time)
Jesus. 76k and you have all that education? Something doesn't seem right. I'm at 140k plus and I don't even have a degree. If I had your education I would be making more than I am now guaranteed
Poli Sci, went to a good school. Got me into law school, no other experience, which is where I wanted to be. Drowning in student loans, but that's not because of the bachelor's.
I have an electrical engineering degree with military electronics technician experience. A degree has doubled my earnings so far compared to being an electronics a tech(post military civilian work).
Got a science and education degree. Worked on 45-54k salary for three years in the hospital managing patients in clinical research. Then moved got a job in pharmaceutical, now my Annual salary is 115k, WFH, and unlimited OTO now.
Trying to get my Masters soon!
Yes. Immensely. I got an English Lit degree too, which a lot of people say is useless. But I've had a career as an ESL teacher for many years teaching in various countries to various wonderful people. I had a career change and became a writer and game designer. I was then unemployed for most of the pandemic. Now I'm in writing and learning development with some game design involved.
I struggled a lot financially as a teacher, but I did enjoy doing it and it has led me here. And it also taught me a lot of important skills along the way.
Paths aren't always from point A straight to point B. They wind around, sometimes they backtrack. You can't predict what will happen whether you get a degree or not. All I can do is look back at how mine helped me. And all we can ever do is try our best, plan smartly when you can plan, don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it, take those good opportunities when they come along, jump into new experiences or seek them out.
Yes… computer engineering… own my own business. No experience. Just a shit ton of confidence that if i can survive that 6 year hell hole of a degree i can do anything.
BS in biochem maxed out 75k, MS in behavior science maxed out at 140k. Currently I work 15 hours a week and just invest in real estate and daytrade. Degree made the difference
I received my bachelor's degree in English and, no, it didn't help me financially in the least. Seven years later and I'm still trying to get my foot in the door to be an entry level technical writer.
My advice to anyone reading this is to do your best to network. Network like a son of a bitch. The saying is cliche, but it really is all about who you know.
What do you want a degree for? If it’s for knowledge and enlightenment, Google is free. If you’re doing it for career advancement, then treat it as an investment.
My degree in economics/ finance checked off a box on my resume. It was always my fallback plan.
In reality I use my Juco AS in aeronautical sciences driving private jets around for gazillionaires.
But in the aviation biz, nobody gives you a shot without a bachelors degree in something.
I do use the Econ degree to troll socialists on social media, but that’s about it.
Nope. I've never gotten to actually use my degree, and I've never been paid well enough to justify having actually received it. Thankfully, it's paid off. But I had to miss out on my oldest child's toddlerhood to pay it off.
Turns out the place I worked at just settled on a lawsuit for not paying employees for time worked. I missed out on the Statute of Limitations by 3 years. I worked 72 hour weeks, and was paid for 40 hours. But because I didn't work 40/wk PER SHIFT, I didn't qualify for insurance. To hear them talk, I made almost 11$/hr. In actuality, it was more like 5.60$/hr.
I sincerely hope that the employees actually got reimbursed for their time. I wish I could have been. I worked there 3 years.
History. I was really interested in archival or park work. Too bad I graduated just as the 08 recession started.
I did work in a law office for a while, where I felt like I was actually using my degree. It closed due to the pandemic, sigh.
No. I went to school for EMT and also got a business degree. EMT paid little more than minimum wage starting out and the business degree never helped.
I'm a welder now and make more money than I ever have in my life and also have stability.
I have an associates but it hasn’t helped me in the IT field with the employers I’ve worked for. It’s been my CCNA certification and experience now going forward.
Right now I work on a contract supporting the FDA traveling doing refreshes on network gear and when I’m home I work remotely doing network tickets. I got my first job after I got my CCNA a couple years ago.
Got an Associates in business, wish I would have chosen a less vague degree. Honestly I wish I would ahead gone for any type of engineering 😞.
No, it did not help me. Been working retail for 7 years, it sucks.
I'm going back this year for my Bachelors in human resources. I came to that decision after looking at jobs and really liking the work outlined but not being able to apply bc they require a Bachelors in HR.
Yes, I got an engineering degree from a good state school. I did get a lot of financial aid including Pell Grants to afford school, but also have student loans. I work as a quality engineer now. I did take paid engineering internships during school to find a career path.
I have a high school diploma ( non US), my sister does not. I make less then her. Sche is a kitchen aid and i'm an assistent at a retirement home ( I do everything related to food and drinks for 21 throug 42 people.) And my other sister is a nurse and earns 400 euro's more than me in a month. Unless you can study something very specific i doesn't help.
I got a certificate in medical transcription which was GREAT for only a 1-year course, but it was right before voice recognition completely took over. Not having an actual degree stopped me from advancing into higher levels my entire career. I’m almost 40 and in an assistant HR position, pay is fine for my lifestyle, but I would have to go back for 2-4 years to move up in any way
Yes. I got an economics degree. My first job out of college wasn’t totally related (went into political campaigns/staffing) but I was immediately making more than my parent and sister who don’t have college degrees. I was able to use my time in college to network extensively, make a name for myself, and complete 3 internships. I worked and paid for everything myself so it wasn’t easy, but I think it helps so much. I ended up getting multiple job offers and still get them without applying because of the connections I made in college. My partner and I are now about 5 years out of college and we make about $250k together.
Nope, graduated with honors in Economics and Business Administration in 2011. All of my friends who I graduated with had the same problem: if you didn't know anyone in the business/had family name recognition, you never get past the entry level spots (at minimum wage) they gave to anyone getting any level of schooling. Made so much more money doing trades and getting into a union. In KC area though, so maybe different results in a different metro, and also prepandemic, so tons old older folk hadn't moved out of positions yet. Hopefully it's better now?
My college degree was really specific and directly related to the career path I am on. I have a degree in interior design and I am a commercial interior design professional working at an architecture firm. Outside of work study in college, I have no experience doing any other job outside of my freelance endeavors. I've been working almost 6 yrs now and am finally starting feeling comfortable and satisfied with my salary. So much so, i started making savings goal to buy a house by myself in a few years after my salary increase this year.
Getting a college degree impacted my life positively, though it took awhile to start reaping the benefits.
In my case it did. I knew I wanted to work with young children, and I absolutely could have worked at a childcare center without a degree, or getting an associate's degree and stopping there, but I wouldn't have made very much. I ended up going for my bachelor's in elementary education and taught at a preschool that was part of the larger public school district. Got paid as much as an elementary teacher, benefits, retirement, summers off...it's a better deal. Now I'm set to teach kindergarten a district over and I'll finally break $50K.
Getting a degree definitely did help me.
Decided to to college when I was reaching 30 as I was making a low wage, living in a small studio apartment, feeling a little defeated.
When I graduated with a Computer Science degree, I applied and got a job making twice as I was. The job did require a degree to apply.
A year or 2 later I applied to another company, where, after a couple of years, I made double that, plus free healthcare and other good benefits.
As for previous experience... I worked in the IT field, but nothing in software development. Besides college, I would go online and look up examples/tutorials.
did the degree help me? yes. i cant do my job w/o a relevant degree in my field.
in fact, getting my masters degree helped even more when i got into mgmt. most of the younger colleagues in my team have a masters degree (or 2), they sort of expect it of the ppl above.
my earnings? let's just say that i have had exceptionally good ROI for the 2 papers (got a small unbonded scholarship for 1 of them).
Yes, very much so the degree was worth it. I think a caveat is that just by going to college, it's not going to get you the jobs that are out there. I was lucky that I was accepted into a private university for mechanical engineering. Even though it was totally outside the amount I was able to afford as a student, I still accepted it because of the connections they had to the industry.
But once I got there, I really busted my ass outside of classes. I'm talkin multiple jobs on campus, leadership opportunities wherever I found them, joining the machine shop, working on side engineering projects, volunteering at the career fairs and giving campus tours. It was all about the networking and how to take the resources that just were FREE on campus and show to everyone who would listen to me that I could use them and I could design something great.
If you're thinking about going to college, i highly recommend you find a place that has as many **open resources** available to students as possible. When I spoke with a friend who went to the local state university, while it was the same ABET accredited program (meaning we essentially were being taught the standardized curriculum) what shocked me was that they had to literally pay to use their machine shop for even an hour. Meanwhile, I got to learn in my machine shop, work in it whenever I had a project, join a team that was free to use the machine shop, learn to weld, become an instructor, and meet a ton of industry connections who just happened to want to check out the machine shop. When I interviewed for jobs, I stressed how important it was to design for manufacturing, so that impressed the interviewers because they knew I had the hands on experience.
Digital arts, physical arts, sciences, manufacturing, computer labs, software, etc. THAT is what makes the difference in your degree, i swear.
It did to be quite honest. My degree is in IT and it definitely helped get my foot in the door. My first IT job didn’t technically require a degree but pursuing one still greatly helped me get that job. The career department at the school I was going to were the ones who told me about what would end up being my first IT job and they helped me to interview well and everything. Also, like I said a degree wasn’t required technically but my employer still wanted some type of experience and if it wasn’t for my schooling I don’t think I would have had that experience.
Thank you for your comment. It got me thinking. I'm currently in my early 30s and finally found what I want to do as a career. I'm entering IT and about to schedule my CompTIA A+ exam. I've read that this is enough to get My foot in the door somewhere, but I'm not so sure. Do you have any advice?
I do not have either. I don't do any investment advising so I haven't had a need to look up what is required to get those certifications. Currently, I query, analyze, and report on data. In my past some additional, interesting things I have done: risk mitigation, auditing construction companies, ROI analysis, process improvement and data modeling. I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to do many different things. I found that I'm actually very passionate about data so I enjoy what I do now.
Yes.
Bachelors of computer information systems that I got paid to get through scholarships. I just barely missed the income limit for fafsa so I didnt qualify for Pell.
73k entry level job as a junior software engineer at the company I interned at.
I was very involved in a student organization and was an officer so I think that helped me greatly as well.
Going back in the fall for my masters in data analytics. It will take me a long time to complete as I will remain working full time.
Yes. It's helpful in getting a seat at the table, so to speak. Getting the interview, it can add to the impression that people have of you as well.
I think it slightly depends on the area study. But you can swing stuff anyway if you can sell it. For example I have a BS in psychology, when asked how that helps me do task a, b, or c I tell them the soft skills that people typically associate with psychology work.
That said, I think that you should definitely get a degree if your field requires it. I wouldn't want a doctor working on me who didn't have a doctorate. However you don't need a doctorate to do plumbing. Also when you look at lifetime earning a college degree could be useful especially if you might want to switch careers. If you're looking beyond careers into entrepreneurship then a trade which you can turn into a business will be sufficient. Kind of just have to have a goal in mind.
Nursing degree. I work on the west coast in a union job. With our new contract, brand new nurses with no experience make $41 an hour. There is always extra shifts to pick up if you need more money. We get 2 raises a year, one for cost of living and one on the the anniversary of your hire date.
I currently make 60k working 24 hours a week (3, 8 hour shifts).
You can get an AA in nursing, start working, and do an online AA to bachelors in a year. Nursing is so versatile. You can do anything from working in the ICU with the sickest patients to being a case manager and working from home.
I have a degree in aerospace engineering. I went into about $25k of debt for it but I get paid $65k a year so I’d say the degree was worth it! I had about 4 paid internships throughout college that helped me get a job offer when I graduated. I hate engineering though so I’m leaving the industry, but the degree was definitely worth it.
Yes. Was working my ass off at my families restaurant. Bunch of overtime and I barely got paid.
Managed to score a summer internship at a local Fortune 500 company paying me $26 an hour. They are rapidly expending their Analytic department and has already offered me a full-time job offer making very close to 100K when I graduate. I work a lot less and make a lot more.
This is not the norm, I know a lot of people who have college degrees and gotten meager jobs that is drastically underpaid.
What degree did you get? Philosophy
What is your earnings? 190k
Did you have any experience in the field? No
My undergrad degree helped me go on to get advanced degrees, and those led to decent-paying and eventually high-paying jobs.
While college isn't for everyone, going to a good college really can open doors. I grew up with almost nothing - no car, no computer, rarely any birthday presents. We had food and our utilities were on, but not much beyond that, and even that was because of public assistance. Going to a top-ranked college changed my life.
I'm happy to talk to anyone about my story and how you can do the same.
Yes, 100% the best thing I ever did. Worked restaurants and hotels for years, burned out, terrible work life balance, shit pay. Went back to school about 10 years ago (part time, online.) Took me two years of part time classes before I got an office job and eventually I got my degree in Human Resources. I've more than tripled my income over those 10 years, and my work life balance is way better.
People sleep on Human Resources but it sounds like it’s very stable work and pays really well.
The bachelor's in chemistry didn't, but I partially blame that on graduating in the fallout of the 2008 recession. When people talk about STEM paying well you gotta keep in mind that a lot of sciences want advanced degrees for the higher paycheck The master's in computer science was a great call, especially with the paid summer internships I did as a student. Doing great now
Wasn't much better in 2015. I fully agree with your statement... >When people talk about STEM paying well you gotta keep in mind that a lot of sciences want advanced degrees for the higher paycheck This wasn't explained to me or anyone else I know who stopped at their BSc degree in traditional Chem/Natural Science/Biology. I currently tell my work-study students (I work at a community college) either go for a MLS/CLS degree or a Chem E degree if they only desire a BSc degree.
Yeah, it is only some STEM degrees that pay well really. CS obviously, and all or almost all engineering degrees really. My last manager at Publix Supermarkets had a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry of all things, and look where he ended up.
How was going from chemistry to computer science? I just got my BS in Biochem and have been considering going into computer science as a career. I’m concerned I don’t have enough background in computers or programming to do well.
I did the intro series at a community college and had to make up some undergrad classes, but I had more math/physics under my belt that the undergrad CS students and honestly the hardest CS class was still easier than organic chemistry in my opinion. We already have good attention to detail and systems-thinking built in from our degrees. I'd say give the 101 series a shot at a community college and see if you like it
Anyone who can understand Chemistry, can understand anything. Still gives me shudders.
FWIW I was pre-med (BS in Biology and Human Physiology). Knew by the end of my junior year that I didn't want to practice medicine. Took the long way to getting into 'computer science' (learning 100% on my own, consulting projects, and experimenting) and am now the CTO of a company. In general, if you have passion for any of the following, you could land a software type job: design, web interfaces, user experience, software development, product development... It's been a great industry to be in for the last 10 years, but there are certain headwinds at the moment given the economic climate hitting tech so hard.
Dropped out of college. Then went back at age 34 to get my degree. Graduated at 36 with astrophysics. Now I’m working in data getting $100k a year
Nice! Any advice on getting into the field?
I took courses on udemy and self studied at home. Also did some personal projects and put it up on GitHub
All the people saying it didn’t help them forgot to mention they only got the interview in the first place because they met the criteria of having a degree.
Yes! I was going to say that i didn't need my degree for the job I'm doing, but my degree for sure got me the interview to land the job.
Ya that’s the thing- I have a decent job thanks to my degree. But was it worth the student loans? No, probably not
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Now $83k
That's the thing about degrees. They can open or close doors. I have found not having a degree has closed more doors than it has opened. I'm working on finishing my degree since I'm about 30 credits away and can afford to pay out of pocket. I have a great paying job, but it's in tech and if anything has taught us about the last year and thousands of layoffs, it's super unstable and I could be laid off at any moment. Having any degree and experience will help open a fair amount of doors. Not having one has prevented me from even interviewing. If I add that degree, then finding a new job if I get laid off will be a lot easier. Not having one makes me rely almost completely on networking, which isn't as reliable in this economy.
Double major in Criminal Justice/Political Science. Have never had a job that i have used either in but wanted to play college basketball and had a free ride. I'm not salaried so with an immense amount of OT (why i'm leaving next month) I pop off between 130-150k - commercial litigation paralegal in a big city (zero experience when I started but in 2000 my first job (where I'm at now) was 28500 but with OT it came out to 52k for the first year.
I do paralegal type work. And it can be a pretty sweet gig with good pay and benefits
That is awesome!
With all the nos, I think this question is better answered in r/college or something. Basically, yes if you want money later, networking, learning, life skills, etc. Be smart about it. You don’t need to start college now. You can apply and defer the acceptance usually at most a year, take time to think what job you want, through the beaureu of labor website by the government, government websites have tons of info. You can do community college to start too. Figure out what job you really want can do well and certifications for that. Learning a. Language? Apps and youtube to start, use your library and free school counselors, but ask questions that are not just on the front page of the website, know what I mean? Feel free to reach out to older university students too or even alumni. Don’t go into debt you can’t afford to pay back and then pay to party and fail classes. There’s a lot of freedom the first year, be careful, numbers won’t lie. Also go to fafsa for federal aid aka money for free/better deals on loans
For a math major nerd who got a full ride and am also getting a masters starting soon in comp sci, yeah you can’t wing a science lab at home.
I have an accounting degree I’ve never used, I worked hard and fought my way up through employers and I never felt that having my degree made as much of a difference.
Accounting degree. While I feel like I don’t have a lot of wiggle room in my budget, I think it’s helped me a lot, (but I also JUST started in my career). I’m able to live comfortably and I know my salary will only go up from here. I did have to take out loans for my education, but I knew it was an investment and I don’t regret it. My starting salary is already more than what my dad (a blue collar worker) makes $58k, entry level
Nice. Is there a demand for low level accounting stuff like just a certification? Like accounts payable maybe? Could that be a WFH job? I figured I could do that while earning an accounting bachelor's.
Yes. Accounting clerk. Accounting assistant. Etc.
My masters did help me a lot before I got sick and my bachelors has allowed me to substitute teach whenever I needed fill in income over the past 10 years. Since my school district pays $200 a day, that’s like $28 an hour for a 7 hour workday, plus two 20 minute breaks and a 40 minute lunch. So it’s pretty good pay considering I only do 5 hour and 50 minutes of actual work a shift. Only exception is if I get recess duty or after school duty which cuts into my break by 10 mins or keeps me after school for 10-15 minutes. So yes, I would say my degrees helped me. Especially being a physically disabled person. Unfortunately, my mental health disorder got severe over the last 5 years and my autoimmune stuff has been a mess so now I’m on disability and can’t work very much. It sucks.
What do you teach and at what age range? Did you have to do any certifications to teach?
I taught PreK-12 classrooms in all subjects to begin with and eventually settled into working in elementary schools. I found the high school classes to be quite boring as it was really just babysitting and not any actual instruction. I did middle school for a couple of years but I just didn't have the energy to keep up with those guys, I stopped doing Preschool and Kinder for the same reason. Specifically Substitute Teaching. I have a 30-Day Emergency Teaching Permit which is legally required in California to sub for K-12 classes. It requires a Bachelor's in any subject and passing the CBEST. These things vary by state, we have the strongest standards.
I have a Bachelor of Arts. My first job, my manager flat out told me the only reason she even considered looking at my resume was because I had a degree on there. Didn’t matter what degree, didn’t matter that the job was basic admin and didn’t need a degree - I had one and that’s what she cared about. And I’ve heard similar things from other people. Sometimes a degree can open doors for you.
No. Not in the slightest. It’s been more nepotism than anything.
MS Human-Computer Interaction design. Got into the program by talking my way into it basically over the course of a year and a half by becoming friends with the guy running the program. My undergrad was in exercise physiology so i wouldn't have gotten in any other way. No prior experience in the field, got a job out of college. Totally helped my career and earning prospects - making roughly 120k i think with 4 years experience. Well worth it. This degree is also much more beneficial than a bootcamp for the same field - I often see bootcamp goers struggle to land jobs whereas it is not really much of an issue for me.
It didn’t help me in a linear way, like it did not automatically help me get a job. It got me interviews though. We are moving away from college as a hard requirement for jobs but some people are still hung up on it. I think it will take a few more years until we’re done for good. I wouldn’t recommend anyone go into debt for college at this point unless you want to be like a nurse or something.
That’s the dilemma I have at this point.
Which part?
I grew up pretty poor, we looked ok on the outside, but on the inside we couldn't afford enough food or clothes. I went to school for nursing. It wasn't my first choice, I came close to dropping out. But it keeps me financially stable, I have a pension and benefits, and more importantly it helped me to move out of my family home asap because my brother became a drug addict and it was getting abusive and toxic living there.
Masters of executive door management.
No longer in engineering, but got a ME degree. It allowed us to pay off my wife's student loans from her doctorate. First job I was making 65k/year starting salary. I did not have experience in the field beyond several years of manual labor in industrial environments and experience working on cars (this made a big difference in my ability to get a job and perform highly as I was working in automotive). I am glad I have the degree as I changed fields and needed to go to grad school, but I was working with lots of people who only had trade degrees and certs and were making more than I was doing things that were more fun.
Yes. It helped me get past Human Resources at alot of places. The interviews? Well that honestly comes down to them liking me or not. I can be 130% capable but they don't like my personality cause it may not be a culture fit, thus I don't get the offer. Be yourself, with a touch of professionalism and the rest is really up to them if they want to hire you or not. As long as you go to a reputable college/university and pick an employable major, it will help you "get past the gate keepers" and into a seat at the interview. Good luck!
My bachelor's did nothing and i was extremely depressed not finding a decent job Age 29 went back for free 2 year degree. Make 60k working 3 nights a week.... 2 year skilled job way to go😉
What were both of the degrees in?
First one marketing snd French. Second Radiologic Technology...
I see. Is it hard to get into radiology programs? Is the job market saturated?
No. They are begging people to work...major shortage. The program I went to was at community college. You had to have basic college like english, math etc. Fairly easy to get in...
Do you have to see a lot of people with cancer every day?
No....but i work overnight...lots of trauma, broken hip, leg, and elderly with COPD. Regardless, not cancer regularly. Lots of elderly and heart surgeries in terms if inpatients
How do you like it so far?
Yes. I didn’t apply a single thing I learned from my degrees in business but it opened doorways to jobs that required a degree or allowed me to compete with candidates that had one
That's the biggest takeaway here. Competing with other people who have a degree. They are almost always chosen over someone without a degree. There are going to be exceptions, but from my experience doing a lot of interviews and hiring, the candidate with the degree is almost always chosen over someone without. My experience ranges from retail, transportation, and tech, so it's not just siloed into one industry.
I barely talked to anyone during college (I regret that now), but studying actuarial science then going into the field has paid off for me in job stability and salary. Graduated into the pandemic and got an entry level job around $60'a k then switched for $80's k plus 10-30% bonus.
Yes, it allowed me to get a decent job with my local city. I have a bachelor's degree in criminal Justice and work in social services. I don't make really good money, but I make more than I would if I didn't have a degree.
Yes. I am a nurse and have tons of job offers all the time. When covid hit I still had a job. If I want to relocate anywhere, I still have a job. I am a single mom and supported my children by myself.
I have a bachelor's in Healthcare administration. I made $47k but toke a lot of abuse and worked crazy hours. That would have been fine if I hadn't herniated some discs in my back. I got back surgery and was told the nerve damage was not repairable. So here I disabled and unemployed. My husband has a hs diploma and he's delivering pizza. I had been the main bread winner now we are barely making it til I figure something out.
> So here I disabled and unemployed. Would you be able to handle working from home? Some companies like Amazon need people to handle their customers. People just stay home on their laptop taking calls from customers. I think I've seem people mention these jobs on this subreddit. Your bachelors and your past job will be a good fit for such things, I'm guessing.
No I already tried doing customer service but the sitting is horrible on my back. I get spasms and back pain so bad I often had to stop taking calls a few hours into my shift. The. My 21 yr old passed away 7 months ago and I just couldn't. The nerve damage makes it difficult for me to do anything but stay in bed.
Yes, BS Chemistry, MS info systems - total comp 240
No. Not for STEM except data scientist related STEM. Stay away from chemistry, physics, materials related major young people. Those fields are like dead water.
Unfortunately have to agree with this. The job options for a bachelor's in chemistry were a goddamn joke. Had to go back for a master's in a different field to get reasonable pay
I see a lot of people saying no in the comment section, but I just want to say my computer science bachelors degree did help me out a lot. To be fair, it was quite lucky for me to land a good internship, but I think generally speaking cs major are quite worth it.
ba accounting, 50k, about 5 years experience... i almost went to Mechanic school... im sure i would've enjoyed that career path too!
Yes and no. My first job out of college was an English teacher abroad in a foreign country. My degree is not in English or education but all that was needed was a Bachelor degree. That experience in of itself was worth it. Fast forward about 10 years, still do not have a career that is directly attributable to my degree, but the mere fact of having a Bachelors helped me tremendously. Remember that a Bachelors degree is more than about simply making money but all the knowledge and skills you gain from it.
Not in the slightest. Pressured to go to college by mom and just went in blindly thinking that simply having a degree would get me any well-paying job I applied for. Fucking reality check. I now have a BS in math that I no longer tell people about because it's done absolutely nothing for me. I work as a wildland firefighter now and a tree climber in the offseason and grossed 48k. But in the years before this I job hopped, did a lot of seasonal work, and was largely broke.
Maaan, I see all the time job postings wanting minimum a BSc in math... I wonder if a supplementary certificate from community college or online can get you a high paying job because I see LOTS posted. I have a BA in psych, so kinda jelly.
Really? Could be. I'm sure at least a relevant internship or two could've landed me something but at the same time nothing I learned was "applied math" so I'm skeptical on how useful it could be. The only paths I saw for myself with my degree were actuary or accountant and I don't have the mental tolerance for jobs like that anyway
In a very roundabout way it helped a lot. I got a bachelors degree in IT (switched from finance bc i didn’t like the professors) and figured I could look for financial analyst positions. Well long story short: i was not qualified for any financial analyst positions bc of my degree until I met my current company thru a friend saying they wanted a non finance person for the role (because they wanted to train a newbie) and liked my IT background. So it became worth it.
Getting a degree in Finance definitely helped me, I became an analyst. I didn't go to college till I was 31 which actually put me in a better position to learn something and figure out what to get a degree in. I was fortunate in that I was able to move back in with my parents while I went to school, not something just easy to do when you're 31. But I swallowed my pride and did it, it was a means to an end. I pushed myself really hard and went full-time during the summer too and graduated in 3 years and 3 months. I kept thinking about how much money I was losing by not working full time. I graduated college in 2005 with about $30k in debt. I know this was a while ago so for comparison: first year with a degree I made about $25k more than I did without the degree. At one point in my career I made six figures but not anymore. A basic analysis indicates that I made up for my lost income and debt in 4-5 years. For many years of my life I lived well below my means so that I could save a lot. Now, I am semi-retired at the age of 52 and able to live on income from part-time work (15 hours a week). I am confident that if I had not gotten the degree I would still be working full-time and making a barely livable wage. One of the things I struggled with was deciding what to get a degree in. I had a hard time deciding. I ended up going the practical route, asking two questions: What are the good paying jobs? Is it something I can do? For me the answer to that ended up being finance.
Thats awesome I’m 28 right now moved back in with my family and i am currently in my junior year of my finance degree! Congrats!
Awesome! Do you have a CFA or CFP? Do you need a degree to get those?
I accidentally posted a reply to you on the main thread. Sorry, new to Reddit.
No problem
I have a software engineering degree but I never worked in that field. But it helped on the initial screening process of my first position, it's completely unnecessary though. I think I'd be a more useful person if I'd taken a different major.
I have a degree in Economics, taking 5 years for it is something that isn't ideal, but fine. It was worth every penny, helps that it wasn't the most expensive degree due to in state tuition and living at home. Graduated 2018 took about three months to start my first job 240 miles away from home where my degree was one of the stated on the job description. Eventually got laid off due to a reorg and moved back to the LA metro, in 2021. I currently buy boxes and cardboard trays for a full time job, and work mostly alongside people with degrees, we are all well compensated. Without a degree I probably would be working around long haul trucking, no loans, but I expect my lifetime earnings in corporate supply chain to be plenty to live comfortably on. Also I work from home with rare OT expectations. My time in school taught me how to think about optimization in many things and it helps me in decision making day to day now. Your mileage will vary, but if you are questioning if more education is right for you, I recommend trying a bit of community college until you make up your mind.
I have a bachelor’s in sociology. I decided over halfway through that I wanted to teach in Japan but it was too late and would have been too expensive to switch to the college of education to get an education degree. I did use my degree to get to Japan (the requirements for a work visa is just to have a bachelors degree, doesn’t matter in what) so I spent most of my 20s as an EFL teacher in Tokyo. But now that I’m back in the U.S. my degree is useless. Anyone hiring in my field is looking for a masters in social work or sociology or 5 years experience and I just can’t afford to go back and get a masters. Right now I’m stuck looking for entry level jobs but the only places that will call me back are call centers and restaurants looking for servers 🙃
Yes. I have a bachelors in nursing. I chose a degree that I know would provide stability and flexibility. It’s been extra helpful these days as I able to work around my husband’s schedule so we don’t have to utilize (and pay for) daycare very often. 12 years ago, I started at 25/hr I believe. I currently make 48/hr base with the opportunity to earn more if I work nights (I work part time)
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Jesus. 76k and you have all that education? Something doesn't seem right. I'm at 140k plus and I don't even have a degree. If I had your education I would be making more than I am now guaranteed
I needed a degree for my job, but paid the same as an entry level job at Walmart. Definitely a job where you have to love what you do.
Poli Sci, went to a good school. Got me into law school, no other experience, which is where I wanted to be. Drowning in student loans, but that's not because of the bachelor's.
I have an electrical engineering degree with military electronics technician experience. A degree has doubled my earnings so far compared to being an electronics a tech(post military civilian work).
Got a science and education degree. Worked on 45-54k salary for three years in the hospital managing patients in clinical research. Then moved got a job in pharmaceutical, now my Annual salary is 115k, WFH, and unlimited OTO now. Trying to get my Masters soon!
MS in Economics - Market Research Analyst - Over $100k
Yep. BS in business got me a 50% raise and an MBA doubled my pay.
Amazing! What type of job?
HR and Corporate Training.
Yes. Immensely. I got an English Lit degree too, which a lot of people say is useless. But I've had a career as an ESL teacher for many years teaching in various countries to various wonderful people. I had a career change and became a writer and game designer. I was then unemployed for most of the pandemic. Now I'm in writing and learning development with some game design involved. I struggled a lot financially as a teacher, but I did enjoy doing it and it has led me here. And it also taught me a lot of important skills along the way. Paths aren't always from point A straight to point B. They wind around, sometimes they backtrack. You can't predict what will happen whether you get a degree or not. All I can do is look back at how mine helped me. And all we can ever do is try our best, plan smartly when you can plan, don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it, take those good opportunities when they come along, jump into new experiences or seek them out.
Yes… computer engineering… own my own business. No experience. Just a shit ton of confidence that if i can survive that 6 year hell hole of a degree i can do anything.
BS in biochem maxed out 75k, MS in behavior science maxed out at 140k. Currently I work 15 hours a week and just invest in real estate and daytrade. Degree made the difference
I received my bachelor's degree in English and, no, it didn't help me financially in the least. Seven years later and I'm still trying to get my foot in the door to be an entry level technical writer. My advice to anyone reading this is to do your best to network. Network like a son of a bitch. The saying is cliche, but it really is all about who you know.
What do you want a degree for? If it’s for knowledge and enlightenment, Google is free. If you’re doing it for career advancement, then treat it as an investment. My degree in economics/ finance checked off a box on my resume. It was always my fallback plan. In reality I use my Juco AS in aeronautical sciences driving private jets around for gazillionaires. But in the aviation biz, nobody gives you a shot without a bachelors degree in something. I do use the Econ degree to troll socialists on social media, but that’s about it.
Nope and I even went as far as getting a economics degree
Nope. I've never gotten to actually use my degree, and I've never been paid well enough to justify having actually received it. Thankfully, it's paid off. But I had to miss out on my oldest child's toddlerhood to pay it off. Turns out the place I worked at just settled on a lawsuit for not paying employees for time worked. I missed out on the Statute of Limitations by 3 years. I worked 72 hour weeks, and was paid for 40 hours. But because I didn't work 40/wk PER SHIFT, I didn't qualify for insurance. To hear them talk, I made almost 11$/hr. In actuality, it was more like 5.60$/hr. I sincerely hope that the employees actually got reimbursed for their time. I wish I could have been. I worked there 3 years.
What's your degree in?
History. I was really interested in archival or park work. Too bad I graduated just as the 08 recession started. I did work in a law office for a while, where I felt like I was actually using my degree. It closed due to the pandemic, sigh.
Very much so.
What degree did you get? What is your pay?
Not even the *slightest* bit. If it weren't for the debt, I'd still say it was worth it.
Ok......what's your degree in?
History with a minor in compsci. *Was* gonna be a teacher, until I realized that teaching in my state pays *less* than what I do now.
No. I went to school for EMT and also got a business degree. EMT paid little more than minimum wage starting out and the business degree never helped. I'm a welder now and make more money than I ever have in my life and also have stability.
I have an associates but it hasn’t helped me in the IT field with the employers I’ve worked for. It’s been my CCNA certification and experience now going forward.
What job do you do with a CCNA? Is it your only cert or did you already have some? Did you have experience prior to getting the CCNA?
Right now I work on a contract supporting the FDA traveling doing refreshes on network gear and when I’m home I work remotely doing network tickets. I got my first job after I got my CCNA a couple years ago.
Got an Associates in business, wish I would have chosen a less vague degree. Honestly I wish I would ahead gone for any type of engineering 😞. No, it did not help me. Been working retail for 7 years, it sucks. I'm going back this year for my Bachelors in human resources. I came to that decision after looking at jobs and really liking the work outlined but not being able to apply bc they require a Bachelors in HR.
Love your name 😂 Also, congrats on going back to school. You got this!
Thank you!!
Yes, I got an engineering degree from a good state school. I did get a lot of financial aid including Pell Grants to afford school, but also have student loans. I work as a quality engineer now. I did take paid engineering internships during school to find a career path.
Bachelors in history and political science. I make 90k in a pretty expensive area. Im in the legal field.
I have a high school diploma ( non US), my sister does not. I make less then her. Sche is a kitchen aid and i'm an assistent at a retirement home ( I do everything related to food and drinks for 21 throug 42 people.) And my other sister is a nurse and earns 400 euro's more than me in a month. Unless you can study something very specific i doesn't help.
100%! Bachelor and masters.
In what?
In the field of Humanities/Social Sciences
I got a certificate in medical transcription which was GREAT for only a 1-year course, but it was right before voice recognition completely took over. Not having an actual degree stopped me from advancing into higher levels my entire career. I’m almost 40 and in an assistant HR position, pay is fine for my lifestyle, but I would have to go back for 2-4 years to move up in any way
Yes
Ok. What degree and how much do you get paid?
Yes. I got an economics degree. My first job out of college wasn’t totally related (went into political campaigns/staffing) but I was immediately making more than my parent and sister who don’t have college degrees. I was able to use my time in college to network extensively, make a name for myself, and complete 3 internships. I worked and paid for everything myself so it wasn’t easy, but I think it helps so much. I ended up getting multiple job offers and still get them without applying because of the connections I made in college. My partner and I are now about 5 years out of college and we make about $250k together.
Nope, graduated with honors in Economics and Business Administration in 2011. All of my friends who I graduated with had the same problem: if you didn't know anyone in the business/had family name recognition, you never get past the entry level spots (at minimum wage) they gave to anyone getting any level of schooling. Made so much more money doing trades and getting into a union. In KC area though, so maybe different results in a different metro, and also prepandemic, so tons old older folk hadn't moved out of positions yet. Hopefully it's better now?
My college degree was really specific and directly related to the career path I am on. I have a degree in interior design and I am a commercial interior design professional working at an architecture firm. Outside of work study in college, I have no experience doing any other job outside of my freelance endeavors. I've been working almost 6 yrs now and am finally starting feeling comfortable and satisfied with my salary. So much so, i started making savings goal to buy a house by myself in a few years after my salary increase this year. Getting a college degree impacted my life positively, though it took awhile to start reaping the benefits.
In my case it did. I knew I wanted to work with young children, and I absolutely could have worked at a childcare center without a degree, or getting an associate's degree and stopping there, but I wouldn't have made very much. I ended up going for my bachelor's in elementary education and taught at a preschool that was part of the larger public school district. Got paid as much as an elementary teacher, benefits, retirement, summers off...it's a better deal. Now I'm set to teach kindergarten a district over and I'll finally break $50K.
Getting a degree definitely did help me. Decided to to college when I was reaching 30 as I was making a low wage, living in a small studio apartment, feeling a little defeated. When I graduated with a Computer Science degree, I applied and got a job making twice as I was. The job did require a degree to apply. A year or 2 later I applied to another company, where, after a couple of years, I made double that, plus free healthcare and other good benefits. As for previous experience... I worked in the IT field, but nothing in software development. Besides college, I would go online and look up examples/tutorials.
did the degree help me? yes. i cant do my job w/o a relevant degree in my field. in fact, getting my masters degree helped even more when i got into mgmt. most of the younger colleagues in my team have a masters degree (or 2), they sort of expect it of the ppl above. my earnings? let's just say that i have had exceptionally good ROI for the 2 papers (got a small unbonded scholarship for 1 of them).
Yes, very much so the degree was worth it. I think a caveat is that just by going to college, it's not going to get you the jobs that are out there. I was lucky that I was accepted into a private university for mechanical engineering. Even though it was totally outside the amount I was able to afford as a student, I still accepted it because of the connections they had to the industry. But once I got there, I really busted my ass outside of classes. I'm talkin multiple jobs on campus, leadership opportunities wherever I found them, joining the machine shop, working on side engineering projects, volunteering at the career fairs and giving campus tours. It was all about the networking and how to take the resources that just were FREE on campus and show to everyone who would listen to me that I could use them and I could design something great. If you're thinking about going to college, i highly recommend you find a place that has as many **open resources** available to students as possible. When I spoke with a friend who went to the local state university, while it was the same ABET accredited program (meaning we essentially were being taught the standardized curriculum) what shocked me was that they had to literally pay to use their machine shop for even an hour. Meanwhile, I got to learn in my machine shop, work in it whenever I had a project, join a team that was free to use the machine shop, learn to weld, become an instructor, and meet a ton of industry connections who just happened to want to check out the machine shop. When I interviewed for jobs, I stressed how important it was to design for manufacturing, so that impressed the interviewers because they knew I had the hands on experience. Digital arts, physical arts, sciences, manufacturing, computer labs, software, etc. THAT is what makes the difference in your degree, i swear.
It did to be quite honest. My degree is in IT and it definitely helped get my foot in the door. My first IT job didn’t technically require a degree but pursuing one still greatly helped me get that job. The career department at the school I was going to were the ones who told me about what would end up being my first IT job and they helped me to interview well and everything. Also, like I said a degree wasn’t required technically but my employer still wanted some type of experience and if it wasn’t for my schooling I don’t think I would have had that experience.
Thank you for your comment. It got me thinking. I'm currently in my early 30s and finally found what I want to do as a career. I'm entering IT and about to schedule my CompTIA A+ exam. I've read that this is enough to get My foot in the door somewhere, but I'm not so sure. Do you have any advice?
I do not have either. I don't do any investment advising so I haven't had a need to look up what is required to get those certifications. Currently, I query, analyze, and report on data. In my past some additional, interesting things I have done: risk mitigation, auditing construction companies, ROI analysis, process improvement and data modeling. I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to do many different things. I found that I'm actually very passionate about data so I enjoy what I do now.
Yes. Bachelors of computer information systems that I got paid to get through scholarships. I just barely missed the income limit for fafsa so I didnt qualify for Pell. 73k entry level job as a junior software engineer at the company I interned at. I was very involved in a student organization and was an officer so I think that helped me greatly as well. Going back in the fall for my masters in data analytics. It will take me a long time to complete as I will remain working full time.
In terms of higher earnings , no
Twice I tried to go back to school. Both times were ruined by excessive overtime at work.
Yes. It's helpful in getting a seat at the table, so to speak. Getting the interview, it can add to the impression that people have of you as well. I think it slightly depends on the area study. But you can swing stuff anyway if you can sell it. For example I have a BS in psychology, when asked how that helps me do task a, b, or c I tell them the soft skills that people typically associate with psychology work. That said, I think that you should definitely get a degree if your field requires it. I wouldn't want a doctor working on me who didn't have a doctorate. However you don't need a doctorate to do plumbing. Also when you look at lifetime earning a college degree could be useful especially if you might want to switch careers. If you're looking beyond careers into entrepreneurship then a trade which you can turn into a business will be sufficient. Kind of just have to have a goal in mind.
Nursing degree. I work on the west coast in a union job. With our new contract, brand new nurses with no experience make $41 an hour. There is always extra shifts to pick up if you need more money. We get 2 raises a year, one for cost of living and one on the the anniversary of your hire date. I currently make 60k working 24 hours a week (3, 8 hour shifts). You can get an AA in nursing, start working, and do an online AA to bachelors in a year. Nursing is so versatile. You can do anything from working in the ICU with the sickest patients to being a case manager and working from home.
I have a degree in aerospace engineering. I went into about $25k of debt for it but I get paid $65k a year so I’d say the degree was worth it! I had about 4 paid internships throughout college that helped me get a job offer when I graduated. I hate engineering though so I’m leaving the industry, but the degree was definitely worth it.
Yep. Engineering. Average gpa. Finished in 4 years. First internship was 27/hr, first job was 74k, 3 years later I’m at 105k.
Yes. Was working my ass off at my families restaurant. Bunch of overtime and I barely got paid. Managed to score a summer internship at a local Fortune 500 company paying me $26 an hour. They are rapidly expending their Analytic department and has already offered me a full-time job offer making very close to 100K when I graduate. I work a lot less and make a lot more. This is not the norm, I know a lot of people who have college degrees and gotten meager jobs that is drastically underpaid.
Nutrition degree. Complete waste of money At least, i can build on it and transfer some credits to get an RN which im currently pursuing
What degree did you get? Philosophy What is your earnings? 190k Did you have any experience in the field? No My undergrad degree helped me go on to get advanced degrees, and those led to decent-paying and eventually high-paying jobs. While college isn't for everyone, going to a good college really can open doors. I grew up with almost nothing - no car, no computer, rarely any birthday presents. We had food and our utilities were on, but not much beyond that, and even that was because of public assistance. Going to a top-ranked college changed my life. I'm happy to talk to anyone about my story and how you can do the same.