is the Masters just the new Bachelors? https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/11/08/graduate-school-officials-struggle-deal-fast-moving-landscape
Given the general understanding that a Bachelor's degree should be broad and a Master's deep, it's reasonable to expect that it shouldn't. The forces of credential creep are irresistible, however, and the Masters is a much smaller marginal step up from a Bachelor's than a Bachelor's (the new high school diploma) is from a high school diploma (the new middle school diploma). The article goes on to give some of the reasons why Master's degrees might become less popular, including alternative credentials and rising costs, while also bringing out the main reasons why, even so, they probably will keep on growing in popularity: competition and accessibility.
Anecdotally, non-degree credentials really change the math. Positions that once required an MBA at my company are now shifting to a bachelors and more specialized experience or certifications. An MBA might be nice. But the reality is that an MBA in Green Technology or something similarly non-Finance related does not actually elevate the would-be candidate for an actual finance job as much as a CFA might, depending of course on the specific position. The MBA might still be nice if the candidate has it. But our accounting department has seen an uptick in hiring since they took that requirement off and now favor someone with a CPA. It's proven more effective to hire someone with no MBA and a CPA rather than someone with an MBA who aspires to one day earn the CPA. Masters degrees just make sense in some areas more than others and I think a combination of crippling student loan debt and hiring process gridlock is causing some areas to reconsider their positions.
FOR SURE if I needed another degree it would be another master's. To do a second bachelor's would be a nightmare- assuming the best possible case scenario and that everything perfectly counted, I'd still need enough upper-level new credits that the time and money difference between a second bachelor's and another master's isn't significant! Again, that's in a perfect scenario - in reality, the number of classes for a second bachelor's vs a master's is probably the same. BUT, that's not obvious to most people, so I think when people think about another degree, they make the mistake of thinking another degree AFTER the master's will be as much work as the bachelor's - especially if they took longer than 4 years, and that's probably too much work for most people. So, considering the chunk of people that have a bachelor's vs the chunk that have a master's (only 13% if you believe wikipedia) your ROI should be a heck of a lot better with a master's because you've just bumped to the VERY top of the pile.
Most master's degrees are: a) consolation prizes for failed academics, b) awarded along the way to a PhD, or c) a signal that one has "mastered" one's field of practice. From someone with a master's degree who is in practice I expect a keen understanding and working knowledge of all the major aspects of that chosen profession. Not just a deep acquisition of knowledge, not just a broad one, but one that soars to the profession's heights. Or 36 credits. Whatever.
I don't think that's the case anymore. An awful lot of experienced professionals people use Master's degree programs as training for a change of career or other pivot.
I'm not sure what state you are in but here in Oklahoma to sit for the CPA exam one needs 150 credit hours. It is essentially assumed that if someone wants to be a CPA in Oklahoma now, they will either pursue a MBA or a MAcc to meet the requirements.
That's me! Did undergrad in Biology and then went into banking. Started my MBA to get a foundation in business and was promoted to Assistant Vice President at 27 years old...the youngest in our company. Now I am pursuing my MS in Finance to deepen my knowledge in the field and better set myself up to pursue a PhD in Finance.
Same requirement in New York. However, more people are meeting the requirement without masters degrees these days. Many accountants are finding it is more cost effective to tack on 30 specialized undergrad credits or a combo of grad credits or, this one is really becoming more common, earning two grad certificates in specialized areas rather than earning a Masters. The result is we have quite a few CPAs who became CPAs under the new requirements but were able to either supplement more cheaply or earn an additional 30 credits during the course of their undergrad degree.
That makes sense. I am not "up to par" on how one goes about becoming a CPA, as that is not my goal. It is nice to know that there are cost effective ways for individuals to gain the CPA designation though!
