DeKalb News Service

Many students believe a bachelor of arts or science degree is all they need to get a high-paying job after college, but according to some NIU sources, that is not always the case.

Students who have gone to graduate school and receive a master’s degree are likely to be hired before those with a B.A. or B.S., said Lois Harding, Graduate Admissions and Records Officer at NIU.

“Companies prefer hiring graduate students because they have more training in their fields, and it shows they have an extra ability,” Harding said.

To enter the graduate program at NIU, a student must have a minimum grade point average of 2.75 in the last 60 hours of undergraduate work. The student also must pass either the Graduate Management Admissions Test or the Graduate Records Exam.

More than 6,000 students currently are enrolled in NIU graduate programs, according to NIU’s Office of Budget and Planning.

Mia Arden, a graduate student majoring in rehabilitation and teaching of adult blind, said although it is not required to have a master’s degree in her field, it is preferred by employers.

“The guidelines differ from state to state, but in Illinois it’s preferable to have a master’s to do rehabilitaton work,” Arden said.

Most professors agree that going to graduate school is a necessity due to the growth of technology in all fields. One student, who requested his name not be used, said a journalism professor once told the class it was necessary to attend grad school.

“He told us newspapers hire relatively few people these days due to computer advances, but when they do, they hire those with a master’s,” the student said.

For some students, graduate school is considered a hindrance. Renee Waclaw, a former speech pathology major, had to change her major her senior year at NIU after learning she would have to attend graduate school.

“To get any job in my field you have to have a master’s,” Waclaw said. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to make the requirements for grad school, so I had to change.”

Not all students who go to graduate school do so because they need to. Patricia Dalen, Admissions/Records Officer at NIU, said most students get their master’s because they want to round out their education, and it teaches them responsiblity.

“The students I talk to say grad school helps them mature,” she said.

Other students see grad school as a way of stalling time before entering the job world. For instance, one graduate student said, “There is only one reason I decided to go to grad school: It gives me two more years before I have to go out into the real world.”