One of the first questions prospective students ask when considering a graduate program is, "What impact will this degree have on my career?"

While the return on investment (ROI) for an advanced degree varies by degree and industry, graduate degrees generally provide more career opportunities and higher salaries.

According to WorldWideLearn, an online education directory, the overall value of an advanced degree has never been higher. Based on a tuition of $22,000, a master’s degree yields an investment value of about $216,000, or nearly 10 times the initial payout.

In fact, full-time workers age 25 and older with a master's degree earned on average of $11,487 more a year than those with a bachelor's degree, according to a survey by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

Not only can a graduate degree give you a competitive advantage in the workforce, but it also offers you the opportunity to network with other professionals in your field and can widen your employment options.

There are many factors to consider when deciding whether or not to pursue an advanced degree. Ultimately, only you can say whether an advanced degree is right for you.

If you’d like to find out more about SHU’s MASC program and what it can do for you, click here (link to http://www.shu.edu/academics/artsci/ma-communication/).

Having been in the professional world for over a decade, I found the decision to return to school to obtain a graduate degree a bit daunting but, ultimately, a no-brainer. The idea of increasing my industry knowledge and expanding my base of professional contacts was very appealing.

Soon, though, I was faced with another important choice: Which classes should I take? Do I enroll in a course that’s directly related to the position I’m in now, or do I look into something a little different, something that’s not exactly what I’m currently doing but offers an opportunity for professional – and perhaps personal – growth?

Thankfully, the MASC program offers a choice of both types of courses, but I’ve found that the classes that aren’t directly related to my current position are those in which I’ve learned the most. For example, I recently completed a course on International Business Communications. While my job does not entail major interaction with other countries, I found that the course did, in fact, help me better communicate with our company’s technical support reps, which are located in India. I was able to apply what I learned about cross-cultural communications to help a technical project move along more quickly and with fewer speed bumps along the way.

My advice: If there’s a class that interests you, go for it! You might just find out that it’s more related to your job than you think.

The MASC program had a positive impact on my current role as a Category Manager and Sales Trainer for a major CPG company/ Fortune 100 company.  I was able to transition learnings from my Effective Presentation class to a Training Seminar I was facilitating that very week. Using some of the methods I was able to increase participation and impact my audience in a manner that I was unable to achieve before.

And that's just one example of how the program effected my business career.

Over the past several months before starting the MASC program I continually read about the recession we may or may not be in, companies downsizing and in my situation "restructuring" and being in a organization that consistently "beats the street" in reported earnings to Wall Street this restructuring worried me.

I felt a need to secure my position with my current organization by expanding my knowledge with an additional degree. This degree will set myself apart from my peers by adding a "value added" feature to my role in my current organization. 

On the flip side, if I choose to pursue other endeavers, this Master's Degree will make myself more marketable to other organizations/companies that I may choose to transition to if I decide to look for a career change.

In this era of "no-name" online Master degree programs, the MASC has the Seton Hall name recognition and reputation in the New York City area. This recognition will certainly assist me in getting an interview with a desired company versus that XYZ University in the virtual/online world.  Simply put, Seton Hall University and the MASC is "TANGiABLE"  the others are not.