How much more should I earn a year with an online bachelor's degree?

Discussion in 'IT and Computer-Related Degrees' started by BillSimmons, Oct 30, 2011.

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  1. BillSimmons

    BillSimmons New Member

    How much more should I earn a year with an online bachelor's degree? I make about $50k now without one, and I'm in I.T.

    I checked payscale.com and it told me $2k less by having a bachelor's, compared to no degree (lol) and I didn't even tell it online.

    I'm trying to find out if its worth getting one financially.
     
  2. TEKMAN

    TEKMAN Semper Fi!

    The answer is depend where you live. A college degree does not guarantee you make more money, but your experiences, certifications, and a college degree give you more opportunities move around in IT. Which means, you have better chance to apply for high paid position.

    For example for me, I have the following:

    Experience: About 8 years experiences in IT field - Networking.
    Education: Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Master of Science in Telecommunications, Master of Professional in Information Security.
    Certifications: MCP, MCSA, MCSE, MCITP Server 2008 and Exchange 2010, CCNA Networking, Security, Voice, CCVP, A+, Network+, Security+, Ethical Hacker... Working on CISSP, CCNP, PMP.

    My current salary is: $84K in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area. I did the payscale.com, I make about $12K below...

    My friend who has BS, MS, and cert in Information Security, and IT certificates... he makes $120K in DC area.
    A co-work who dropped out of College, but he has CISSP, and etc.. he makes about $12K more than I do. So, you cannot make a comparison with a college degree.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 30, 2011
  3. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    I'm constantly amazed that so many people seem to think there's such a close correspondence between "getting a degree" and a rise in salary. Academic credentials are only one aspect of someone's marketability, and usually not even the most important one.
     
  4. ryoder

    ryoder New Member

    Academic credentials are extremely important in determining salary if you A) live in a communist country or B) work for the federal or state government.
    In the private sector, what you can do and have done is more important that the amount of education that you received. Education is an input, and people in the private sector are valued based on their output, not the input they received. If you look at it holistically you will determine that having a high quality education is a good thing but in a free society, it is not sufficient to determine one's market value. Only one's productivity can do that.
     
  5. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    Agreed.

    One of the local Boston talk radio hosts summed it up rather nicely while issuing a statement to the Occupy Boston people; "It's not my fault that you're $125,000 in debt so you could get a useless degree in French Philosophy". :cool:
     
  6. ryoder

    ryoder New Member

    I hear a lot of this from the left wing and the media "they held up their end of the bargain.. they went to school, studied hard, completed their degree and now we owe them XYZ..."
    That is ludicrous. There is no implied social contract that people are guaranteed a job after studying at an institution.
     
  7. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    Who made this bargin with them? Their parents?
     
  8. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    I pretty much agree with this. I deliberately earned a degree that would get me a job. It wasn't the funest degree I could have done and it's not the funest job I can imagine but it allows me to pay my bills, have little vacations and go to see the Cirque du Soleil Quidam in Worcester (that's like $150.00 per ticket). I could have studied underwater archeology but then I'd probably just be waiting tables or driving a cab.
     
  9. CalDog

    CalDog New Member

    Good for you. But:

    (1) if you were earning that same useful degree today, how much more would it cost ? Isn't it true that college costs have generally risen, at a rate much faster than inflation, since you got your degree ?

    (2) if you were seeking your first job with that useful degree today, how much less would it be worth ? Isn't it true that the job market has generally deteriorated, at all education levels, since you got your degree ?

    So if you were getting the same degree today, would you have to pay more for a useful degree that is worth less ?

    Let's face it: the market value of college degrees has fallen (and continues to fall) -- yet the cost of college degrees has risen (and continues to rise). So even if a student today (wisely) picks a non-useless degree, they are still stuck paying more and getting less.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 4, 2011
  10. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    I'm guessing you're right about all of that. Here's a relevant news item:

    66% Oppose Forgiveness Of Student Loans
     
  11. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    The assumption here is that she graduated a significant amount of time ago. My Bachelor's was only six years ago, and if I had to do it today I wouldn't change a thing in my approach.
     
  12. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    Millions. Maybe more.
     
  13. CalDog

    CalDog New Member

    But wouldn't you still have to pay more for a degree that was worth less ?

    I don't have figures for tuition & fees at COSC specifically. But for the Connecticut State University system generally, the in-state tuition & fees have risen by 43 % over the past 6 years.

    Have the starting salaries in your field increased by 43 % over the same time period ?
     
  14. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    The credit I earned when I went back to finish my degree was mostly CLEP and stuff like that, so in my case it doesn't matter.

    Still, even if it did, it doesn't matter whether it was worth it last year or ten years ago or twenty years ago. It only matters if it's worth it now. And I think for the most part, at least with professional programs the answer is still yes.
     
  15. TEKMAN

    TEKMAN Semper Fi!

    Do not ask what your degree can do for you, but ask what can you do with your degree. :privateeye:
     
  16. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    Criminal justice wouldn't have been my first choice of what to study, but salary increases of 10, 20, and 25% are pretty hard to argue with, which enabled me to take my son to his first Boston Bruins game the other night....$110 per ticket, plus another $100 or so for concessions and souvenirs.

    I would have chosen psychology or history, neither of which would have done much for me at the undergrad level (I think psychology is the most popular undergrad major). However, psychology is proving to be very beneficial at the graduate level, although I never would have made it there without my basis in CJ.
     
  17. BrandeX

    BrandeX New Member

    Skimming through the 10 slide-bios of the students with debt, one thing (unless I missed someone) is readily apparent. They went to schools outside of their financial means (obviously), and now don't have sufficient employment to pay back their loans. My point?
    Not a single one of them appears to have majored in something math/science/technical related.

    As mentioned above, is it no wonder, that as a recent grad -likely without work experience- you aren't standing out from the crowd with your B.A. in Comparative and world literature or similar degree? At the very least I'd hope it was cheap to obtain.
     
  18. learningone

    learningone New Member

    It is very hard to compare income with degree or with no degree. The total salary will be depending not only on degree but on certificates and other IT related courses.
     

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