what is the main reason it takes much longer to complete an undergraduate degree

For those considering graduate school, information technology'southward important to accept the time to understand what an advanced degree program entails. Read on to larn well-nigh the dissimilar types of graduate programs, the fourth dimension commitment, toll, and enrollment weather condition required, and what students should wait at this level of advanced report.

What is a Graduate Degree?

An undergraduate degree —either a bachelor'due south or associate caste—is considered a baseline educational requirement in many professions. As such, the pursuit of this degree has become commonplace among high school graduates. Equally of 2018, 69 percent of students chose to complete their undergraduate degree immediately after earning their high school diploma.

A graduate degree —including master's degrees , doctorates , and PhDs —provides an avant-garde understanding of a specific topic or field, and demonstrates a commitment to lifelong learning that many employers value. Those who choose to enroll in graduate school often do so with a serial of focused, career-oriented goals in heed, which sets the stage for a substantially different type of learning environment than i might feel during an undergraduate career.

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Types of Graduate Degrees

Students embarking on graduate school should begin by determining if an academic or professional degree is right for them.

Students who desire a career in a specific field (such as police force, pharmaceuticals, medicine, or education) may opt to pursue a professional person degree . These programs emphasize easily-on learning and often require students to obtain substantial real-world experience prior to graduation.

Academic (or research) degrees align with a single, specific expanse of study or field. Students in pursuit of these degrees are required to develop an in-depth understanding of their subject area and consummate a thesis or capstone project to demonstrate their knowledge.

Learn More: Professional Degree Vs. Academic Degree: What's the Divergence?

Main's Degree

Although primary's degrees may be the most common form of graduate written report, there are various professional and academic graduate-level degrees that students should consider. Some of the most common include:

Primary of Arts Degree (MA): An MA is a type of academic master's degree that correlates about direct with humanities-based subject areas such as communications, pedagogy, languages, and more. Classes in these programs are primarily discussion-based and might require fieldwork, a thesis, or a capstone project prior to graduation. Some common MA programs include Homeland Security , English , and Simple Education .
Main of Science Degree (MS) : An MS is another blazon of academic master's caste which typically correlates with advanced study in fields that relate to science and mathematics. Courses in these programs ofttimes require extensive lab piece of work or inquiry and culminate with thesis or capstone projects, also. Some common MS programs include Cybersecurity , Corporate & Organizational Communication , Leadership , and Project Management .
Main of Fine Arts (MFA): An MFA is a professional person degree for artists in fields such equally graphic blueprint, music, theater, film, and more. Aslope a practical and abstract exploration of their fine art, graduates of these programs often receive the credentials necessary to teach at the undergraduate level. Some common MFA programs include Information Blueprint & Visualization , Creative Writing, and Acting.
Master of Professional Studies (MPS): An MPS is an interdisciplinary degree focused on a single area of professional study. Unlike MA or MS degrees, these programs are typically more than hands-on in nature and require an internship, work-study, or co-op experience prior to graduation. Some common MPS programs include Analytics , Informatics , and Digital Media .

Professional Doctorate

A professional person doctorate is focused on the advanced practice of knowledge and skills, making it a degree for those who are more than professionally oriented. While these programs besides help to develop inquiry skills, the master focus is to employ knowledge to industry to solve new and emerging issues.

Juris Doc (JD): This degree provides students with the practical skills and expansive knowledge needed to exercise police force in America. While JD programs share some commonalities with other graduate-level constabulary degrees, such every bit a Master of Legal Studies or a Master of Laws, there are key differences between the three.
Medico of Didactics (EdD): This is another professional doctorate degree not to exist confused with a PhD in Education. This type of plan is for educators and professionals who want to straight and implement change within their organizations. These degrees are designed to set students to go leaders in their communities.
Dr. of Medicine (Doc): Students hoping to pursue a career in medicine or surgery pursue this professional person doctorate degree.
Dr. of Chemist's (PharmD): Individuals pursuing a career in the pharmaceutical industry must obtain a PharmD. These programs include components of research, teaching, and clinical practice.

Learn More: Why Earn a Professional Doctoral Degree?

Doc of Philosophy (PhD)

A PhD is a postgraduate doctoral degree based on all-encompassing inquiry in a given field. Students tin can earn a PhD in areas such as technology, humanities, social sciences, and more. Individuals who complete their PhDs often pursue a career in academia, though some may continue on to consummate similar inquiry for the remainder of their career. Some common PhD programs include Counseling Psychology , Bioengineering , and Pharmacology . PhDs are not to be confused with professional person/clinical doctorates, which are designed to provide students with the practical skills needed to excel in their career.

How Long Does it Take to Earn a Graduate Degree

The timeline for completion of a graduate caste volition vary depending on 3 factors:

The blazon of degree you lot pursue.
Your desired subject area surface area.
The specific institution at which yous are studying.

On average, withal, those enrolled in a master's program full-fourth dimension will likely complete their caste within 1-and-a-one-half to three years. Individuals who pursue their master'southward degree part-time might have longer than three years to complete it, depending on how many credits they enroll in each semester.

Most PhD and professional doctoral candidates will finish their degrees in 5 to half dozen years, though the time commitment may vary depending on the subject expanse. Some more than intensive caste programs, like an Medico, can accept up to 8 years to complete.

Learn More: How Long Does It Take to Earn a Master's Degree?

Graduate Degree Requirements

Requirements for dissimilar graduate programs vary greatly depending on the subject, institution, and whether or not it is a culminating degree. The most common requirement, however, is an undergraduate caste, as this acts as a base for advanced learning.

Other application requirements for specific graduate programs might include:

Y'all resumé
A statement of purpose
Your educational transcripts
A portfolio of your work
Professional/bookish recommendations
Whatever additional written assignments

You may besides need to accept and submit your scores for a field of study-specific examination (east.chiliad. LSAT, MCAT, etc.) or for the full general Graduate Record Examination (GRE) , which is a requirement for many graduate programs globally.

The Cost of A Graduate Degree

The toll of a graduate caste will also vary greatly depending on what programme and what institution you are considering. Nevertheless, many people make wrong assumptions about the price of graduate school based on their noesis of undergraduate costs.

"Many of us have in our heads the sticker price of $thirty,000 to $40,000 per year for undergraduate instruction," Sean Gallagher , executive manager of the Center for the Hereafter of Higher Pedagogy and Talent Strategy at Northeastern told U.S. News & Study in 2017. "And then nosotros say, 'OK, it's two years for a graduate caste, then it's going to cost me $70,000 to $80,000 or more.' And while at that place are certainly programs at that price point, in that location are many programs where you can get the unabridged graduate degree for between $20,000 and $40,000."

No matter the plan, graduate school will exist both an educational and financial investment in your career. Every bit such, institutions like Northeastern have adopted a variety of fiscal assist options for students to assistance hedge the toll of graduate studies. Students tin can use scholarships, grants, and even tuition reimbursement programs through their employers to assistance pay for their avant-garde instruction.

Learn More: Paying for Grad School: Where and How to Start

5 Characteristics of a Strong Graduate Program

#ane) Flexible Learning Options

In most universities, graduate programs are designed to arrange the needs of working professionals and are thus offered in a variety of exceedingly flexible formats.

Firstly, students at the graduate level can choose to enroll in either a part-fourth dimension or full-time capacity. A role-time graduate programme offers working professionals the opportunity to take on only as many classes as they tin can handle per semester, and work toward finishing their degree at their own speed. Full-time students, on the other hand, must exist enrolled in a specific number of credit hours per semester as determined by the academy, and volition work toward completing their program in a linear way. At Northeastern, for example, full-time students must be enrolled in nine quarter hours of graduate credits per semester.

Universities similar Northeastern also offer a diversity of graduate programs in online , on-footing, and hybrid formats to all-time fit the needs of any given students. Taking online or hybrid courses is an constructive way for students who are already working in their field to rest their coursework with their other professional commitments, too.

For those who aren't ready to commit to an entire graduate program, some universities also offering graduate certificates in many in-demand areas of report. Certificate programs provide either a condensed understanding of basic avant-garde principles as they chronicle to an area of written report, or a very niche look at a specific attribute of the subject. Though the amount of noesis attained in a certificate program is vastly less than that of a full graduate degree, some prefer this condensed format of study for its reduced cost and shorter time commitment.

#2) A Focused Curriculum

By the time a student reaches graduate school, they are likely no longer in the exploring phase of their education. Instead, these students have often experienced life every bit a working professional person, determined which area of report best aligns with their passions, and have made the educated decision to become an expert on that topic through the pursuit of a graduate degree.

For this reason, many graduate programs offer students a far more unified educational experience than at the undergraduate level. Often, this will be reflected in a common curriculum that all students within a single program must follow. While they may still be able to selection the specific topics that most involvement them off this predetermined list of classes, each course will chronicle back to their base area of study. This is done in an endeavor to give students a much more in-depth exploration of that specific topic rather than a surface-level understanding of many, unrelated ones.

Students in graduate school nevertheless have the opportunity to customize their educational activity to best fit their needs, all the same. In fact, programs like those at Northeastern recognize that i of the most impactful offerings they tin can give their students is the chance to declare a concentration within their degree and tailor their studies in a manner that aligns with their professional person aspirations.

#3) Opportunities for Hands-On Learning

Northeastern University is known for its emphasis on experiential learning at all phases of a student's educational journeying, offering opportunities for existent-globe, easily-on learning through internships, work-study, co-ops, and more. There are likewise a variety of graduate-specific experiential learning opportunities for students, such as Northeastern'due south Experiential Network (XN) initiative.

A Closer Look: Northeastern's XN initiative offers students the opportunity to participate in six-week-long, virtual projects for active organizations within the university's expansive network. These projects align with students' academic work, assuasive them to use what they larn in the classroom to these existent-world scenarios. Following the format of gig-economic system work experiences, students spend xxx-forty hours on each project and, in that time, practice making decisions and completing piece of work that will take a genuine impact on these organizations' success.

In general, graduate degrees tend to be research- or capstone-oriented in nature, significant that, depending on a student's surface area of study, they will be frequently honing their practical abilities alongside their theoretical skills. Graduate programs emphasize this type of learning in an effort to develop well-rounded professionals in each field. These hands-on learning opportunities besides offer students unparalleled exposure to different facets of their industry—as well equally different types of workplaces—which tin and then be used to assistance them make an educated employment determination after graduation.

#4) An Industry-Aligned Network

Students accept a unique advantage when it comes to networking in grad school . Betwixt the opportunities to make connections in the classroom, at university-hosted events, and even in the professional world through hands-on learning experiences, these students are in the ideal setting to build their network.

Connecting with Classmates

Your classmates in grad school volition probable be equally as driven and passionate most the verbal same area of report as y'all are. You will as well take the opportunity to abound together throughout your fourth dimension in the program, resulting in a slew of common experiences and relationships that will help to keep yous connected with and looking out for one some other throughout your career. Although they may start out every bit your classmates, these individuals have the potential to get powerful players in the professional industry post-graduation, also.

Connecting with Professors

Smaller class sizes and a more than collaborative learning environment allow students to develop more personal connections with their professors during grad school than in their undergraduate studies. These relationships tin can exist some of the most important in regards to your career, every bit professors at meridian universities like Northeastern are manufacture leaders and accept connections that tin exist used to make introductions or open doors to potential employment opportunities after graduation.

Connecting with Manufacture Professionals

Given the emphasis on hands-on learning in grad school, students have the take a chance to develop their professional networks in their region and with organizations that they may exist able to work with post-graduation. Having these types of industry-aligned connections is vital in today's competitive job market place, especially since a connection that has worked with y'all first-manus in a professional environment tin speak to your qualifications in a far more than concrete and impactful way than those who are merely able to speak to your abilities abstractly.

Students who take the time to develop their professional network while in graduate schoolhouse— whether online or on-basis —have the potential to see the positive impact of those connections for the rest of their professional career.

#5) Substantial Bear on on Your Career

Many students pursue graduate degrees to advance their careers. Whether that means getting a promotion, increasing their electric current salary, or fifty-fifty transitioning fields, these students are looking to make a positive change by showing employers the extent of their knowledge, network, and exposure to experiential learning.

While these goals are often achieved during the pursuit of a graduate caste, students' careers can be impacted by graduate report in more ways than one. The overall career outlook for graduate degree holders, for case, is incredibly positive compared to those with merely a bachelor's or associate degree.

For example, the electric current jobless charge per unit for individuals with a master's caste or higher is 12.v per centum lower than those who only concord a bachelor'due south degree. Similarly, in regard to salary, those with a graduate degree earn 28 percent more than than those with simply an undergraduate degree on average. These individuals will too make over a million dollars more than those with only a loftier schoolhouse diploma in their lifetime.

What's more, graduates of advanced degree programs are some of the most in-demand inside organizations today. When it comes to applying for a new part, 61 percent of employers are finding that the skills required for their open positions have evolved to require a higher education amid applicants. By 2022, it is also expected that 18 percent of all jobs volition require a graduate degree. Earning an advanced degree will help improve your skills and demonstrate your commitment to career development—two of the best ways to stand up out in today's competitive job market .

Explore Your Options at Northeastern

Fix to take the leap? Consider advancing your career with a graduate caste from Northeastern, a top-twoscore university . Evaluate the personal and professional benefits of a graduate degree, then explore Northeastern'south 200+ chief's , doctorate , and certificate programs to detect the 1 that all-time aligns with your career goals.

Browse the Grad School Tips & Communication category of the Northeastern Graduate blog for more than content like this from Northeastern University Graduate Programs .

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