The Most Lucrative Master's Degree Options

When you go back to school for your master's degree, you want to make sure that you're doing so for the right reasons. Master's degrees are much more specialized and intensive than bachelor's degrees. You come out of them with extremely specific knowledge and expertise in one niche area. The best reason to pursue a master's degree is because you love both academia and the subject at hand. But there can be financial motivation, too. If you want to get a graduate degree to have a more lucrative career, the right choice makes a big difference.

Paying for School

One big motivation for a high-paying degree is paying for school. You want to be able to pay back your loans on a timely basis. Financing grad school can be expensive, especially since you're taking time out of the workforce to do it. You can apply for the same financial aid that you did in undergrad. Depending on your area of study, you might be eligible for certain scholarships and grants. It's also often easier for grad students to seek help from a private lender. Whether you're going to school right out of undergrad or after some time in the workforce, you've likely had a few years to amass a good credit score. These are the best degrees if you want to get a job that will let you pay off your loans and live your ideal lifestyle fast.

Business Administration

Business degrees are one of the most lucrative at the undergrad level, and the same remains true when you get to graduate school. People with their MBA tend to have the highest paying job opportunities on the job market. Oftentimes, these jobs are related to high-powered corporate and executive careers involving financial management.

One example of a job you can get with an MBA is an IT manager, which has a median salary of about $150,000 dollars per year. There are also marketing managers with median salaries of $135,000 dollars and sales managers with median salaries of $126,000 dollars. All three of these careers are expected to undergo significant growth by 2028, meaning that there will be high demand on the job market once you finish your degree. Technology is already rising and shaping the future of education so you may also end up qualifying for IT jobs in fields that you never originally thought were an option.

Nursing

You can get a Master of Science degree for nursing. Nurses already make a fair salary, but doing this will make you eligible for significantly higher paying work. Another benefit of a nursing career is that you get many of the same benefits as a doctor without the grueling years of residency. There are two main paths to follow after you get a nursing degree. You can become a nurse practitioner, which is a nurse who is qualified to write prescriptions for patients. Or you can become a nurse anesthetist, which is a nurse who can give patients anesthesia prior to surgery. Nurse anesthetists are expected to be in much higher demand by 2028, as the job market is growing by significantly higher than the average rate overall. They also have a higher median salary than nurse practitioners.