paying for grad school (was Re: Getting a graduate degree)

[Dave Hull]

On Thu, 30 Jan 2003, Jonathan Hutchins wrote:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "J. Eric Gilliland" <patzeric at yahoo.com>
> 
> > > Hm, someone once told me that if you have to pay to go to
> > > grad school, you probably shouldn't be going.
> 
> > I certainly don't think this is true.  When did this person
> > tell you this?  Perhaps this was true years ago, when
> > federal pell grants ...
> 
> I don't think they were referring to grants or scholarships, but referring
> to employers paying for your advanced schooling.

The person that told me this was a GTA in the English department at KU. I 
always thought she meant if you weren't going to grad school on a scholarship, 
then you probably should not be going, but I never sought clarification.

That said, I think working for a company that is willing to pay for your 
schooling qualifies.

IMO, real work experience is more important than classroom learning. However, 
the world in which we live is filled with people who for better or worse, give 
preferential treatment to people with degrees. I believe that management is 
one area where this is especially true. Many employers only want folks with 
MBA's in management positions. 

More anecdotes, in my intro to Econ. class at KU many years ago, the professor 
devoted the better part of a lecture to how a person going into the work force 
straight out of high school at a minimum wage job could save 10% of her income 
annually and by the magic of compound interest, could come out ahead of her 
high school classmates who went to college for four years and then entered the 
work force. I don't remember all of the details, but I remember enough of it 
that I found it interesting.

Nevertheless, I will likely start working on either an MBA or a BS in CS at 
some point in the future. I've got a decade of experience in the IT field, but 
still don't feel my BS in History (don't laugh) holds much weight for 
employment elsewhere. Oh, and my employer will pay for my degree.

-- 
Dave Hull
http://insipid.com

love, v.:
	I'll let you play with my life if you'll let me play with yours.