My friends with kids about to graduate from college are basically all singing the same song.  “There are no jobs for our children and that this is a terrible job market for anyone especially they young.”  Many are saying they are applying to graduate school to “wait” out the bad job market.  It may not be a bad investment.  Masters degree holders earn 24% more than bachelor’s degree holders;  doctoral holders earn 70% more.  Not a bad return on your investment if you can swing the tuition.  Donald Martin author of “The Grad School Road Map”  www.gradschoolroadmap.com  thinks grad school definitely pays off.  He suggests that if you have to work while going to school to pay off the tuition you can look into online programs.

Here are his 5 tips for choosing an online grad school:

1. Do a thorough comparison of on-line versus traditional graduate education.  What are the pros and cons for both options, and is there one that is clearly more appealing to you?  One way to help with this is to speak with current students who have chosen each option - find out how it is working for them. 

2.  As with traditional grad school programs, make sure to do your research.  On-line education at the graduate level is still relatively new, and you want to be sure you are finding the best programs. 

3.  In particular, check out the following:  1) level of interaction with faculty and students; 2) any sorts of group work utilized in completing class assignments; 3) financial assistance; 4) networking opportunities with fellow students and alumni.

4.  You will want to find about re-entry and transfer policies, so that if you take a break from your studies or want to pursue the more traditional graduate study route, you are not losing the credits/courses you have already completed. 

5.  Find out what graduates of the program(s) you are considering are doing now.  Ask if you can contact a few to talk about their experience as a student, and if they believe it was worth the investment.  This can be very telling.