How to Earn a Master’s Degree While Working

There are thousands of people going back to school mid-career these days, either to re-tool their skills or to upgrade an academic credential in order to better compete in the job market.

A master’s degree can be an important addition to the resume for professionals who have gone as far as they can on the strength of a bachelor’s degree.  Because it’s become a clear trend, schools have developed graduate level programs designed for working adults who have family obligations as well.  Here are some suggestions on how to obtain that graduate level degree you never thought you’d need. Take a close look at your online options.  Every year more traditional universities get into online education because they see the changing patterns in higher education.  And every year the established online colleges gain credibility and accreditation through steady improvement in quality.  But if you’re a classroom person, you have options there too.

 Full time or part time?  A MBA program, for example, can be completed in two years of more or less full time study, or three years of part time study.  A full time schedule may require twenty hours a week of class and study time.  It’s nice to accomplish life changing goals quickly in order to gain the benefits, but there’s a reason for part time programs that are driven by evening classes, weekend classes, or the online option.

Here’s a new class scheduling paradigm in many career degree programs that can make this process more manageable.  Many online programs and professional part time master’s degree programs deliver classes in eight week modules that are sequential in nature.  Classes are intense but short, and one follows another with a designed curriculum. In an online program with eight week courses you can enroll at six different times during the year and get underway.  You need not wait for a fall semester to roll around; one of the reasons this format works is that class work is a year-round activity.  That means you can complete six classes a year taken one at a time on a part time basis, and finish a twelve to fifteen class program in 2-2 ½ years.  Is this beginning to make sense?The obvious advantage to an online program is the “asynchronous” nature of the classes. You can watch a lecture or class presentation anytime; from anywhere your laptop has Internet access.  With most online programs there are mechanisms for communication with instructors and with classmates as well.

Online programs have adapted the technology to mimic the online campus experience.  And you can build your school schedule around the rest of your life instead of the other way around.  Good research into a quality master’s degree program along with utilization of educational technology can make a graduate level education an addition to your life instead of a wholesale sacrifice of family time and work obligations.