I am going for my BA in elementary education, I was wondering if I should start thinking about going for my MA? I was curious if it was well worth it and what other opportunities it opened up. I was reading that having a MA opens up lots of other doors. Any suggestions or input???
I waited until I had a teaching job... the school pays for 80% of the tuition in my district, so getting my masters was very affordable. A few teachers I know had the masters already when they were hired... One is now up to her eyeballs in student loans... (although she also went to school at Columbia University in NYC, lol. Just a TAD more expensive. ha!) so it's up to you. In my district you get about 6K more in pay with a masters. If you wanted to get a job as something other then a classroom teacher (like a reading specialist), it might be good to get the masters right away.
Depends on what you want to do. It's well worth the extra money as far as salary goes. I got mine in gifted education and teaching gifted kids is great. I get $3,500 more a year for it. If you do it early in your career that's a lot of money. You might want to go into counseling, administration, or as above be a reading specialist. I'd look into a district paying tuition, mine wouldn't.
My classes for my certification were masters level so I had it partially finished before I started in a regular ed classroom (I taught computers with no certification before that). I took 2 years off of college and now I'm going back to finish. I'm glad I took the time off. I think the experience I have in the classroom will help me get more out of the classes. I'm sure I will learn a lot. Here we earn about 10% more for having a masters. Our school district was paying for teachers who worked in schools with economically disadvantaged students to get their masters. I'm not sure if they still do that. What doors you want opened? It might be easier to get a facilitator job. Here that doesn't pay any more than a teaching position. Or maybe something downtown in curriculum or PD? I don't know much about that.
I waited until my 4th or 5th year of teaching. The master's level classes meant SOOO much more to me once I had the teaching experience. Plus, it was so much easier to complete assignments when I had my own class to work with! My district does pay for tuition, but you can only take one class a quarter and you're not guaranteed getting it since there is a limited number of tuition waivers. I just paid for mine out of pocket at a private university. It will have paid for itself after just 2-3 years with the pay raise I got. Well worth it to me. As far as getting a job, it really depends on the district. Some may hire a Master's level teacher because they like to advertise how many of their teachers have advanced degrees. Others may hire someone with a BA because they can start them out lower on the pay scale.
I agree, it depends on the district. In an interview I had a principal ask me, "You don't have a Master's, do you?" When I said yes he just dropped his tone and said "oh...." I didn't get that job.
I am working on my Masters' and I agree with others, I get a lot more out of the classes since I have been teaching for a while. I am working on my reading masters so I can do title reading when I want a change from the classroom. I have a friend who is working on her masters in counseling.
I think mine has opened up many doors for me as an educator; that said, I waited to get it until I had a few years' experience. As someone else said, the classes made so much more sense then. There were people in my program who had never set foot inside a classrom, and, while I'm sure they also learned a lot, I think a lot of them struggled to find jobs afterwards, and those who did find jobs were in for some big shocks.
If you wait until you have tenure in your district, you won't run into the "too expensive to hire problem," but then go for it for the salary increase. I'm half done with mine, which is in secondary ed - English specialist. When I retire (in 14-15 years - this is a second career for me) I'd like to teach English methods in a teacher prep program, and with this degree I'll be able to do that.
In Kentucky a masters is required to keep your teaching certification, so it wasn't an issue of "if" but "when" for me. I went ahead and got mine early--began in January of my second year out of college--before I had a husband and other responsibilities. I finished in two calendar years. It cost me less than $4000 to get my degree--school doesn't pay for any of it--but it's earned me some $36,000 extra salary since then! I have a subject area masters, which is common among secondary teachers. I didn't have any "education" classes as part of my masters program. I teach middle school now, and it's not that common among middle level teachers. Had I been older when I got my masters, I probably would have gone for instructional leadership . . . and that was something I was NOT interested in when I was 25.
It cost you 4K to get your masters?????? It cost me about 1,600 PER class here at a STATE university (cheaper then a lot of them)... x11 classes that's over $17,000 just for the classes... not including books. wow. i should have went to school in KY! lol
I was thinking the same thing NJArt...my classes have been around the $1800 scale! Man...lol I waited until I had a tenure-track job and I was comfortable with my classroom before I enrolled in grad school. It took me 3 years to get my degree and one extra semester to get my principal's certification (which I finish this month...yay!)
It's costing me just over $4000 here in CA too, at a state school. I grew up in NJ, but I'm happy to be in CA now, despite our budget woes!
That was 12 years ago. :lol: I'm old. Classes were $325 each at the time. When I checked into classes last year, they were right at $1000 each.
I have to get my master's. Next year is my second year of teaching, and I'm taking one class this semester. One next semester, and hopefully two this summer. My district does provide some tution reimbursement. I am attending a private college for my master's, but am I taking many classes off site to get a break in tution. I'm also taking some classes with some fellow teachers, so that's helpful as well. I'm getting mine in Reading, and will eventually be certified to teach reading K-12.
One of our local universities has just started offering a Masters in Educational Administration and one in Teacher Leadership, totally online, for just under $5000. That includes all of the materials for the classes! Lamar University
