Is Journalism Grad School Worth It?

A Masters degree in journalism is not cheap. Couple that with the fact that the industry is low-paying, very crowded, and rapidly changing, and what you have is a pretty complex career path.

A friend of mine recently graduated from UC Berkeley's journalism school and is thinking about continuing on to grad school. About a week ago she wrote me an email in which she asked me this question:

Are you glad you went?

What I thought would be a snappy response turned into five-paragraph explanation, during which I realized I didn't actually have a snappy response. That email embodied the ping-pong match I've played with the issue ever since I scored my journalism Masters in 2009.

So, am I glad I went?

I'll start with her message to me:

Hey Justin! I'm going for an admitted students (i.e. hard sell) visit at Berkeley this weekend, and am still kind of grappling with the j school conundrum... Are you glad you went (to grad school)? Do you think it's worth the investment of money, of course, but also time and momentum?

Here's a cleaned-up version of the email I wrote her a few days later:

Hey! Sorry, I didn't get back to you right away. I'll break it down this way in terms of worth: Time, momentum, money:

Time
Totally worth my time. Medill was only one year, which is pretty quick. (Berkeley is two). I knew nothing about online journalism, social media, video, etc., so everything I currently know was scooped up during that year. Much of it I taught myself, which seems ridiculous considering how much I spent, but who's to say I'd have ever opened my mind to it otherwise. (Answer: I wouldn't have). I had a whole lot of fun with a tight group of friends in small collaborative classes. I picked up a lot and had a great time.

Momentum
I had very little professional momentum before shipping off to grad school. I was writing print articles for a small-town paper, which was cool, but not great for future relevancy in the industry. You're doing better than I was: Writing (really nice) stories for legit publications.

Maybe you have enough under your belt to find work in a pretty rough (and low-paying) field, but maybe you don't. I floundered around for two years after college not knowing what to do with my communications degree until I finally scored a newspaper job and fell in love with it. And that's when the job market was fine. I could only imagine the difficulty now.

To answer the question: I got a ton of momentum out of grad school.

Money
This is where it gets complicated. I've occasionally wondered if I'd be happier without my degree (and subsequently my debt). That would also mean trading away my current job and my skill set. I wouldn't have the large financial burden I now do, but I'd also be pretty aimless, professionally.

But then again: I could afford to be more aimless, because I wouldn't have large monthly payments nipping at my heels for the next few decades.

I've asked myself this: Would I trade all of that away to live a nice quiet life on a farm, tending to a couple of animals on a small plot and growing my own food, not making much money, but not needing it either?

It's a semi-stupid question, but that little vision does sound nice and calming to me on occasion. I can't help but feel bothered by the fact that I literally cannot afford to be out of work at any time because of my monthly payments and rapidly snowballing interest. It's a bit enslaving.

Sooo, time and momentum: Very much worth it. I loved school and I'm happy with the work I'm doing now. Money... I can't answer for you, because I waver in my own feelings on it.

My inclination is to say do it. Go to grad school (unless you have a very solid and satisfying Plan B). If the choice is either Grad School or No Idea, you should probably go to school.

Plus, maybe we could hook each other up with cool jobs ten years from now!

The trouble with journalism

The trouble with journalism grad school is that you're dumping up to $80,000 into an education that won't come close to paying off financially for a really long time. Doctors and lawyers come out of school tons of debt, obviously, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to paying it off.

Journalism grads can't see that light, and yet they take on the debt anyway because the job is both fulfilling and enjoyable, and the schooling is the only way to get a firm grip on the employment ladder and move beyond the lower rungs.

Plus, it's an industry that is either disappearing or transforming, depending who you talk to. In that sense, the degree has been a savior, for me at least. If I hadn't gone to Northwestern, I'd be in an entry-level position in a field that would no longer need my old-school reporting-and-writing skill set.

By going to school, I paddled into a quickly moving wave. And now I'm riding it, and although I'm unconvinced the dollar amount attached to the diploma is completely justified, I'm happy I decided to go.

'I like being a journalist'

Justin,

Thanks so much for taking the time to write such a thoughtful response, Justin. I really appreciate the insight. Combined with the really positive trip I had to Berkeley this week, I'm feeling good about the decision to go. I think the biggest thing for me is that I like being a journalist and I want to be better at it, you know? I realize that won't come from school alone but I think a big part of it can.

Anyways, we should totally hook each other up with sweet jobs in the future!!

 

Follow Justin Cox on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CoxJustin

Comments

[Jeffrey Garza Falcon]

11:45 PM on 03/27/2011

There are lots of comments in this thread about how journalism jobs are so "fulfilling." That makes me laugh because most reporting jobs are pretty lame. Credentialism has become a big problem in this culture. If you want to be an artist, you are pratically forced to spend $80,000 for an MFA, even if you are talented enough to not need one. Same thing goes for novelists and poets. The gatekeepers want to see that you have taken out big loans to enslave yourself before they'll invite into the club where you can apply for lucrative grants, fellowships, and teaching jobs.

[valboski]

07:17 PM on 03/27/2011

Apparently not!

[silverliningbs]

12:36 AM on 03/25/2011

I think there are probably more affordable options that won't put you in debt. I'm getting my master's right now at a Jschool; the assistantships the school offers pay for tuition and a stipend so it's a great deal.

[Constant Writer]

11:06 PM on 03/24/2011

Grad school can be really helpful if you're in a stable field where the will continue to be around for years to come. But spending all that money, time, effort, and stress on something that is supposed to get you a better career and then doesn't makes no sense. If it's a means to an end and the end is really what you want to do, absolutely you should go to grad school--despite the amount of money, stress, time etc. But if you're not totally sure, or if grad school is a "back up plan", then you may want to weigh your options a little more before jumping into it.

[frank day]

09:03 PM on 03/24/2011

Not a chance in heck that a journalism degree is worth that kind of dough.

Your chances of it paying off are probably no better than your chances of becoming a pro athlete.

In other words, almost zero.

[swlewis57]

11:15 AM on 03/24/2011

Having worked in TV broadcasting for a while now, internships seem to be a great way to break in my end of the business. That goes for local TV newsrooms especially.

[Joe Griffin]

08:16 AM on 03/24/2011

I'm not so sure. I don't know how it works in the States where degrees seem essential for certain areas of employment, but in my experience (as a freelance journalist in Dublin) I've been making a decent living and have a good career despite not having a degree. 80 grand sounds like an obscene amount of money - especially if freelancing (forget about staff gigs) involve sending out good story ideas, making contacts and doing good work. If you work hard enough, you can do all of those things and - I believe - make a living as a journalist without a Grad School degree.

[satanlite]

01:32 PM on 03/24/2011

I'm pretty sure you're right. It's a money making machine and as we can see here in the US, it doesn't make quality journalism.
 
Unfortunately if you interview for a job as a journalist and the interviewer did come from an $80K price tag school and you are competing against a candidate who also came from that (or a similar) school, I pretty much guarantee you wont' get the job, even if you're a better writer. They have to protect their own. 

[TheBlondeRaven]

11:34 PM on 03/23/2011

I've always had the impression that making it in journalism was about writing talent and it was without regards to a degree in the field.

[Amber Troska]

09:22 AM on 03/24/2011

Talent should win out, but that degree makes you much more attractive to employers, no matter what field. I have a BA in art, and even in that field employers want not only portfolios and records of participation in exhibitions, but the degree (there are exceptions, obviously). Also, college often gives you the opportunity to make connections and speak to counselors, which can help you land employment that you wouldn't have found just searching on your own. Granted, it didn't really help me, but I knew quite a few people who landed great opportunities with the help of teachers and counselors.

[missmkb]

07:31 PM on 03/24/2011

I think journalism is an exception though. If you completely lack any experience (ie internships, freelance writing or working at a college newspaper/station) in your undergrad and need a couple more years to jump ahead and gain more experience than grad school may be worth it. Otherwise, the title of having a "Masters" in journalism w/o experience won't do you any good and you'd be better off working your ass off in undergrad, gaining as much experience as you can before jumping into the real world. As an almost graduate (in May) with just a Bachelor's in journalism, I feel confident going into the workforce w/o a Masters because I've gained really great experiences through internships (4 later...) and writing for free for publications. I don't believe a Masters without extra experience would do me any good at this point...but give me a year and maybe my mind will be changed.

[Jay Rosenstein productio]

10:51 PM on 03/23/2011

You went to grad school and acquired skills that made it possible for you to land a job that you love. In exchange, you are currently in debt. and. ...? you'd be better off if you were not in debt, but working at a job you hate?

Hey Justin, life is short. You are young. You will eventually pay off your debt. but if you were working at a job you hate, no amount of money would ever pay you back for the years of soul-crushing misery you would have to endure. I have always lived by a philosophy which actually is a title of a book from a few years back: Do What You Love, and the Money Will Follow.

It is true.

[Amber Troska]

09:24 AM on 03/24/2011

Thank you for that. I've been thinking about how much I hate my job (even having gone to college) and I am so sick of the "just be grateful and suck it up" responses that I am constantly getting; it is really great to hear someone give advice that has to do with actually living rather than just surviving.

[Justin Cox]

11:43 AM on 03/24/2011

Thanks Jay. Nice way of putting it. It's easy to stress about it now, while in an entry-level position and barely making payments. If things to do plan, I'll be making more money in five/ten/twenty years. So to size up the future based on my current situation is not an accurate reflection of how things will go.

Still: $80,000 is pretty intense for a year of schooling.

[healthanalyst]

04:40 PM on 03/23/2011

It makes sense about year 10 in your career. Otherwise its a waste. Most graduate schools are like that, you go to upgrade your skills and pick the courses you need.