A master’s degree is an academic degree that can be obtained immediately following a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university. Depending on the courses and practical training required, a master’s degree can take anywhere from a year to three years to complete. In the United Kingdom, master’s degrees are occasionally awarded to undergraduate students whose final year of study includes a significant research project. After four years of regular study, certain British universities, such as Cambridge, Oxford, and St. Andrews, offer Masters of Arts (MA or Magister Artium) instead of Bachelors. A Master of Science (MS or Magister Scienti) is more difficult to obtain, though it can be earned entirely through research projects rather than traditional classes in some cases.
The majority of people who are accepted into a Master’s Degree program do so because they want to earn more money. A worker with a Master’s Degree earns an average of $11,000 more than someone with a Bachelor’s degree in the same field, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor.
A bachelor’s degree is required for admission to a Master’s degree program, not necessarily in the same field, but in one that is at least closely related or where the coursework can be linked in some way. Some universities now offer a five-year combined Bachelor’s/degree, Master’s saving students at least a year over taking both degrees sequentially.
Over the last decade, master’s degrees have grown in popularity, accounting for one out of every four university degrees earned in the United States. More than half of all master’s degrees awarded in the United States in 2006 were in the fields of business, education, and health care. Public administration and library science are two other popular fields. A master’s degree is now considered the minimum requirement for full-time employment in some fields, such as physical therapy.