Graduate school survey results

I received hordes of excellent advice on my graduate school decision through emails, other discussions, and through the comments on my previous post. I hope to summarize some of the most important things I learned in a future post, but the questions that seemed most pivotal were the ones I posed in a survey over holiday break. I would love to add data to these results, so if you have not already taken the survey, please do so here. So far, 25 people have responded and the results are as follows:

1. Considering the cost of a Master's degree (tuition, foregone wages, and foregone investment earnings), what is the probability that I will earn more money over my lifetime with a Master's degree than without one?

(Mean, Median, Standard Deviation)

Overall (N=25): 62%, 60%, 23%
People who have or plan to get Master's or higher (N=19): 61%, 60%, 23%
People who do not have nor plan to get Master's or higher (N=6): 62%, 60%, 16%

2. What is the probability that I will be more successful as an entrepreneur with a Master's degree than without one?

(Mean, Median, Standard Deviation)

Overall (N=25): 34%, 25%, 25%
People who have or plan to get Master's or higher (N=19): 33%, 25%, 25%
People who do not have nor plan to get Master's or higher (N=6): 36%, 35%, 28%

3. What is the probability that I would eventually regret not getting a Master's degree?

(Mean, Median, Standard Deviation)

Overall (N=25): 46%, 45%, 30%
People who have or plan to get Master's or higher (N=19): 48%, 45%, 29%
People who do not have nor plan to get Master's or higher (N=6): 45%, 45%, 30%

The charts below display the individual responses. Blue bars represent people who have or plan to get a Master's or higher, and green bars represent people who do not. (Click to enlarge.)



Bottom line: The data clearly show wide-ranging opinions, but on average, there is a remarkable similarity in estimations between people who have or plan to get a Master's or higher versus people who do not. And for each question, the average response is close enough to 50% that I think it is safe to call it a toss-up. If it truly is a toss-up, then my decision comes down to whether I would rather work for a couple of years or go to school for a couple of years. The answer to that is pretty obvious.

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Regarding the question about lifetime earnings, here is a statistic from a brief 12/30 NYT article called Ten Master's of the New Universe: (Thanks, Phil.)

On average, a master’s degree results in 20 percent more pay than does a bachelor’s, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.