Obviously salary ranges depend on the profession. It’s an accepted reality that a master’s degree in almost any field will result in an increased income over the life of a career. There are statistics that suggest this rule of thumb doesn’t necessarily apply for some liberal arts degrees, but on the other hand there are many graduates with master’s degrees that got into lucrative careers because of their graduate status. An MA in English or graphic arts can lead to excellent careers in communications or advertising. For the following categories there is little doubt about the financial advantages of graduate education. All salary figures are taken from Payscale.com.
Nursing Degrees
An advanced practice Nurse Practitioner earns about $78,000 yearly for a family practice position, on the average. A Clinical Nurse Specialist can earn well over $80,000 a year in certain states including Florida, Connecticut and California. An MSN graduate working as a Nurse Educator will find a salary range of $65,000 to $77,000. Nurse Anesthesiologist may is the most lucrative of the advanced practice options, with the minimum salary for most states at about $100,000.
Health Sector Degrees
The Master of Public Health degree fits into many job classifications. The opportunities for epidemiologists and clinical research coordinators are in the $55,000 range. For management of a public health facility or non-profit clinic the average pay is about $75,000 annually. In the field of Health Informatics the salary range can fluctuate significantly depending upon the facility. The upper end for this position is $80,000. A director’s position at a major health center would be well over that. Public Health Counselors working with high risk populations and with low income families earn in the $55,000 to $60,000 range.
Education Degrees
The average salary for public school teachers of all types is about $53,000 according to the American Federation of Teachers. Special education teachers do a little better than that and in states where a master’s degree is not mandatory for teachers, the pay scale is higher for those that have completed the M.Ed. For Curriculum and Instruction graduates the median salary is in the $75,000 range. M.Ed. graduates who specialized in Instructional Technology command a salary in the area of $70,000. The median salary for school principals is $85,000, with high school principals on a substantially higher scale than elementary school principals.
Business Degrees
MBA salaries are hard to pin down because of the enormous variety of career paths open to graduates with this degree. Graduates from the top ten schools may find starting salaries in the six digits, but the figures drop substantially below the cream of the crop. The disparity in MBA salaries is the result of some graduates going to non-profit organizations, while others are trying to break into a coveted field where entry level salaries are low. The Business Week survey of MBA starting salaries demonstrates one of the recent issues for MBA graduates: the profile for Wake Forest MBAs shows a median starting income of $88,000 but only a 60% hire rate for graduating students.
Information Technology Degrees
Graduates in Computer Science or a specialty within that academic field do well coming out of a master’s degree program. Graduates going into software engineering break in at about $75,000 and are at the $120,000 mark when they become senior engineers or software developers. Information Systems Managers make about $115,000 per year; there’s a lot of career flex in this job as it can develop in the corporate sector, healthcare or the insurance industry to name a few.
