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Each member of a research group visited either the Virgin Islands or Hawaii...
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by Alicia Abell
When 28-year-old technology consultant Jeff Schlitt decided to go back to school to get his master's degree in computer science three years ago, he thought about going full time--but only briefly. "I was being paid too much money. It was a very simple calculation," he says. Not only did the part-time program at DePaul University in Chicago allow him to maintain his income and pocket tuition-reimbursement checks from his employer, it also let him spread out his costs over time--key advantages in light of the fact he'd just bought his first house.
Although the stereotypical graduate student is fresh out of college, the majority look a lot like Schlitt: older, established in their careers, paying mortgages, having kids. According to the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics, the average graduate student is 33 years old. Over one half are married, and about a third have children. For many of these individuals, a full-time graduate program doesn't make sense. This reality is borne out by the statistics: Only 36 percent of all master's students and 61 percent of doctoral students go to school full time.
Many prospective graduate students struggle with the decision of whether to go full time. Figuring out just the financial part of the equation can be a challenge, says Sandy Baum, an economics professor at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Many people decide against full-time study because they need to keep earning their salary. But borrowing money to attend full time may make financial sense. It all depends on whether you're expecting to earn more money once you finish, says Baum. The greater the jump in anticipated income, the greater your incentive to attend school full time.
Moreover, income is only part of the calculus. Many loans, grants, and scholarships are available only to full-time students, and only full-time Ph.D. students are eligible for teaching and research assistantships (which pay tuition and include a small stipend). Benefits, such as access to student housing and health insurance, usually aren't offered to part-timers, either. On the other hand, many employers will pay for all or part of your degree if you continue to work for them while going to school.
It's also important to keep in mind your career goals when weighing whether to go full or part time. For those whose aim is changing fields, full-time study often makes the most sense. That's in part because people with day jobs can't participate in internships with potential employers. Also, corporate recruiters tend to favor full-timers. By contrast, part-time study often is best for people whose goal is advancing within their company or their field because they can maintain their network of professional contacts while polishing their credentials.
Prospective students should look into how welcoming a school is to part-timers. Are Saturday and evening classes offered? Do libraries, labs, and other facilities have extended hours? And is the part-time program the same quality as its full-time counterpart? In the past, many graduate schools wouldn't even allow students to enroll part time. Those schools that did often created programs for part-timers that were second-rate knockoffs of the full-time programs. That's changing, but some schools have reformed faster than others. One hallmark of quality is whether part-timers sit in the same classes as full-timers. Easy transfer of credits between full- and part-time programs is another good indicator of a quality part-time program.
One of the gang.
Your expectations for graduate school are also worth considering. Do you want to be able to take advantage of speakers and other scholarly events offered during the day? As a part-timer, that may be difficult. Socially, is it important for you to connect personally with professors and fellow students? "There's [less] camaraderie in terms of a college experience" when you go part time, says Jeff Kyle, 28, a part-time M.B.A. student at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
Psychologists agree that the amount of support you get from your family--and from your romantic partner in particular--is a crucial determiner of success in a part-time program. "You need to have a relationship with your partner where you can trade off responsibility," says Ellen Ostrow, a psychologist in Silver Spring, Md. This is especially vital for women, who often bear disproportionate responsibility for child care and housework. As Pittman notes, "a nonsupportive spouse just about makes it impossible."
Support from your boss is no less vital. According to Melissa Slotnick, 31, who got her M.B.A. from New York University in Manhattan in 2000, "You have to get the buy-in [from your employer] or you're really in trouble." Whether your company will help pay for your classes is often, although not always, an indicator of how supportive it will be. Slotnick not only received tuition reimbursement, she also had several long conversations with the partner she worked for at an investment bank about whether she should go back to school. Involving her in the decision-making process meant that she was flexible later on when she needed to leave work early for an exam or to catch up on sleep, she says.
Tough enough?
Tough enough? A final variable to consider is your mental toughness--and the thickness of your skin. By most accounts, it's simply more stressful to balance studies and a job than to drop the job and study full time. Are you willing and able to spend much of your free time hunched over books? To cut down on socializing with friends? To survive on six hours of sleep a night? And to do these things for years on end?
Further, as Jonathan Kandell, director of counseling services at the University of Maryland-College Park, notes: "Graduate students who are taking classes part time and working full time may begin to question their competence. ... Even if they are successful in their jobs, if they struggle in their classwork they may begin doubting themselves in all areas of their lives." Phil Buckingham, 37, a teacher who is getting a master's degree in educational administration from Johns Hopkins University's Montgomery County campus, copes with this mental challenge by reminding himself that he doesn't need straight As to succeed in grad school. "I do want the good grades," he says, "but I've also figured out that wherever I get my next job is probably not going to be looking at my GPA. They want to know you have the degree." Thirty-nine-year-old Paula Fleming, a Ph.D. psychology student at the University of Missouri-Columbia, has coped differently. She has found herself taking fewer and fewer classes so as to keep up her high level of performance at work.
Still, those who work while going to school will be able to begin applying what they're learning in class right way--an exciting prospect for many. "I'm not the kind of person who flourishes in complete academic theory," says Faith Covici, 27, a part-time M.B.A. student at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, Ill. "I like to apply it in the real world." Sara Nolan, 27, a journalist pursuing an interdisciplinary master's in literary criticism at New York University, also likes the interplay of the two worlds. And perhaps more to the point, she's not at all sure that after working for five years she could "just study all day."
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Copyright © 2004 U.S. News & World Report, L.P. Used under license. All rights reserved.
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