Need for advice considering my master degree offer

[malik1989km]

Hello . My name is Malek . I have bachelor degree in nuclear engineering .
I didn't find for almost a year now . I received offer letter for master "Nuclear Decommissioning and Waste Management "
from Birmingham University .

I am not sure if I should go? my sponsor ( Father )ask if this degree will help get a job and it will cost a lot of money about 40,000 USD?

Please if anyone who have real knowledge about this help me . Please anyone who want to help speak from experience .

[MGH]

Go to school as long as possible. Be ready to take care of dad after you discover that he just spent his retirement on school. Or, you could take out massive loans and default on them when the dollar crashes. But, seriously stay in school if possible. The rest of life is work.

[thenuttyneutron]

Run the numbers.  You have already lost out on many years of wages by being in school.  I bet you could make about $70k-$80k a year now fresh out of school.  A masters may take you 2 years to complete and thus that is an opportunity cost of about $150k.  Add the $40k cost of going to school on top of that and it may cost you $200k all together.

You have reached the point of diminishing returns for school/ training for deferred higher compensation.  If you get a job and start pulling a wage in, you can pay off what debt you have now, get real world experience, and possibly use an employer's education grants to get a masters while you work (may take more time to complete).  Getting a masters while not working will push your break-even point out farther probably into your late 30s to early 40s.

I am 33 now and I am now breaking even with going to school for 5 years to get a BSNE.  Getting my higher current wages vs. working from the age of 18 are just about equal now.  The payoff for going to school is just now starting and I am 9 years out of school (8 years working).  This includes the costs of school, wages, and other stuff associated with school bills.  It is all gravy from here on out for me.

If I were you, I would get a job and take 3 hours a semester while I worked. You can bump up the hours from there when you feel confident that you can handle the course load.  Pull in a pay check now and get out of Student Loan debt hell ASAP!

FYI the only way out of student loan slavery is either dying or paying it off!

[spekkio]

I won't contest whether a graduate degree has reached the law of diminishing returns, but you're way off on your bachelor's. The median income of someone with a BSNE is almost $100k, compared to $26k for a high school graduate. Multiply those by 40 and your career earning potential is vastly higher than a HS grad. At 33 your career is in its infancy. When you are in your 40s-50s you won't miss the $100k you could've made from 18-22 when you make that in 6 months.

[cheme09]

I won't contest whether a graduate degree has reached the law of diminishing returns, but you're way off on your bachelor's. The median income of someone with a BSNE is almost $100k, compared to $26k for a high school graduate. Multiply those by 40 and your career earning potential is vastly higher than a HS grad. At 33 your career is in its infancy. When you are in your 40s-50s you won't miss the $100k you could've made from 18-22 when you make that in 6 months.

I'm pretty sure Nutty's context about earnings was for "fresh out of school".  If anything, Nutty's quote of 70-80 may be on the higher side of the scale for people just earning their BSNE.

I can guarantee you that a fresh BSNE will not be earning $100k anytime soon.  It will take somewhere near 10 years to reach that earnings level.  And what engineer in their 40's do you know making $100k in 6 months?  Certainly not one at a utility.  Let me know otherwise and where this person works, it may be worth my while to submit a resume that way.

[spekkio]

I said median, not starting. Just like the median starting salary of a hs graduate will be around $18k, not 26k. But since its a median you can use it over the course of 40 years to estimate your total income potential; presumably you'd be under in the early years and over in the later years.

Also, BSNE isn't limited to only working in utilities.

I know of a former pilot who makes $200k with a BSME in a company in N Dakota. He left the Navy less than 5 years ago. Granted its in N Dakota and who wants to live there, but there you go.