Master after master?

Hi,

I see a lot of people having a more then one master degree. Maybe in different study fields (eg. science and business). Can a master alone fulfill access requirements for other masters? Or do those multi-masters needed a bachelor?

 

Honestly, in my opinion, after going through a third Master's degree. I would discourage to go this route. You need a Bachelor's degree in whatever fields you desire, then an MBA unless you're in education and nursing. More importantly the degrees from the most prestigious schools possible. If I have a choice again I would choose one of these routes: Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a Master of Business Administration (MBA), or Bachelor of Science in Biology and Doctor of Medicine (MD).

 

I myself have three masters working on a fourth. Find out what your field requires and go for the masters that fit that field. For example, if you study engineering for your bachelor's, you should get a master's in engineering or similar that will fit the qualifications for promotion. An MBA, Masters in Management, or Masters in Organizational Leadership will boost the first master's degree with the correct experience. To be honest, if you can just bang out one master's degree and be fine keep it that way. No need to take out extra school loans unless your company is paying for it or it's going to lead to a better position. If you choose to go for your first master's or an additional master's degree I would advise looking at school rankings and program accreditation as it can make a difference when seeking employment. Remember the cheap route is not always the best route. There are few programs that are cheap and hold strong accreditation it really depends on the field and if you qualify for the school's tuition rates.

 

I have two - an MBA in Management and an M.S. in Criminal Justice. I plan to go for a third, either a Master's in MH Counseling, Counseling Psychology, MFT, or Social Work (depends on what my next school offers). I want to become a licensed professional counselor (preferably) or another therapist. I know I will probably have to take additional undergraduate coursework to gain admissions to some of these programs.

 

I have one and will start a second one this fall. I feel you can have however many masters you want, as long as there's a reason. My first was a course-work only MA; I had a particular reason for it, which evaporated before I finished, but of course I finished anyway. I'd like to do a doctorate of one flavor or another, and I've decided to pursue the second masters, which consists of a year of coursework followed by 15 months to write a thesis. I'm doing that to spool up for the doctorate, and hopefully have a thesis that I can build upon for a dissertation.

This plan may explode into a million pieces as well, but that's the long-range plan as of today. YMMV based on career needs and goals, and your personal situation.

 

If I don't end up doing a Public Policy doctorate, I'd like to get a Master of Public Policy (MPP) to join my MBA and MS. Given that I have an undergraduate certificate, undergraduate diploma, a Bachelor's, and soon two Master's, I usually only list my Bachelor's and the most relevant Master's on each resume.

 

Hi Steve,

I don't see you have a Ph.D. from the University of the Cumberlands on your signature. Did you withdraw?

 

He moved over to the Baker College DBA! The link in his signature includes more detail: https://www.degreeinfo.com/index.php?threads/university-of-the-cumberlands-edd-yeah-i-enrolled.43800/page-14#post-554902

 

To answer the OP: it depends.

Some master's degrees require specific prerequisite learning; others do not. The same is true with some doctoral programs as well.

 

My personal experience. They can be useful if the second or third does not cost a fortune. I have 3 and have used them mainly to teach in 3 business areas: Operations, IT and Accounting. I decided to go this route after investing a lot of time in IT certifications that have limited time use. I stopped teaching high level IT and teach now more MIS that is more business oriented. A master's is a masters and can last a one life time, a CISCO certification is good for 3 years and take a considerable amount of work and money. If you work in industry, it can be seen as if you lack focus or just don't know what you want. If your goal is to be competitive in industry, one masters is enough if it comes from a top school. A master's from Harvard is more useful than 4 masters from non ranked institutions.
Collecting degrees can be considered an expensive hobby that has low ROI unless you have an employer that is willing to pay and you can use them.

 

Many hobbies fit that description. Maybe most. Sometimes the low ROI is a surprise, sometimes it's not.
If degree-collecting is fun for someone, OK. I prefer collecting guitars. Now have 8 so far. Collecting the last 4 helped me A LOT to get (mentally) through the pandemic - and I could comfortably afford them. I guess you could call that ROI.

 

I know the feeling. As full time non tenured academic, I felt that I needed a second or third field of specialization to be employable. I started as an IT professor but slowly started losing contracts due to change of technology, this motivated me to do other masters degrees. It paid off at some point as I was able to land a full time permanent position that needed IT and Operations teaching. Accounting is an extra field that has paid off also.

The fear of losing employment and becoming obsolete was my main motivation. I believe that most non permanent academics have the same feeling, in particular with globalization when you see some Asian folks with 8 or 10 degrees from top schools competing with you out there. Some online opportunities go global and it is the most qualified candidate that get them, it is not easy to compete with some very motivated people.

 

I have only one master's. I feel inadequate....

 

I have only one master. (Even if I had a second master other than my dear wife, I wouldn't admit to it anyway.)

 

I totally agree with Steve, nowadays so many online MBAs. Almost every college and university offering online degrees, an online MBA is on their menu. The only way to back an online MBA is the school's reputation.

 

To add this argument, many British schools allow non bachelors holders to earn a Master's degree. The argument is that these students have work experience but in reality they are cash cows directed to non degree holder professionals.
Many of the master propios in Spain allow non degree holders into their programs.
The new cash cow is the DBA, this program is more directed to professionals rather than prospect academics. The idea is that instead of earning a second masters, a professional can earn a DBA is a second field or maybe the same field but more advanced.
In England there are other programs that are cash cows such as DProf that is a doctorate based on work projects.

 

Collecting guitars sounds like fun. My wife wouldn't like it though if I started collecting grand pianos...

Law schools are peddling masters in every conceivable specialty but really only one field has much utility to an American, taxation. The rest are cash cows. Expensive cash cows.

 

It is fun. Took me a long time to start - I had only one guitar, for 40-odd years. Still have it, of course. Then I thought one day - I'd always wanted to collect antique cars - but never had the spare money for even ONE, let alone a collection. I liked guitars at least as much and even a little money can go a long way, there. It worked out very well. I even play better! (Or think I do...)