5 Reasons Why Employees Go Back to Graduate School (and Why Companies Pay for It)

Picture it: You’re sitting at your desk (or maybe the couch if you’re WFH) dreaming about what’s next. You might love your job, yet are ready to move up into leadership. Or maybe you’re over your job, over the industry, and are ready to pivot to a new career altogether.

With a recession looming, now might be a great time to apply to graduate school.

Why Working Professionals Go Back to School

Employees are interested in pursuing additional education for a number of reasons:

1. To gain new skills, sometimes referred to as upskilling

2. To be a more marketable job applicant

3. To advance into leadership roles

4. To pivot to a new area of career interest

5. To fulfill a personal interest in getting an advanced degree

1) Gaining New Skills

Continuously adding to your skill “toolbox” is good for your career AND your mental health.

Graduate programs provide opportunities to build communication, critical thinking, and technical skills in an immersive environment led by knowledgeable faculty and staff. 

2) Become More Marketable

An advanced degree can make a resume pop in a list of applicants.

It is a signifier that you are goal-oriented and have the drive and endurance to complete a long-term project. It also implies that you have a certain level of written and oral communication skills, and that you have a strong base of knowledge in that area.

3) Career Advancement

In some industries, having an advanced degree is a requirement to move to the next level. Whether it is formally listed in a job description or an unspoken norm that all managers and leaders in the organization must have a certain degree, having an advanced degree is often a signifier of your knowledge in the field and ability to research up and coming advancements. 

A large study of 22,000 people in tuition assistance programs found that 76% used the programs for advancement in the same company, and that almost 6 in 10 had a promotion, new opportunity, or a different benefit within two years of graduating (Business Wire).

4) Pivot to a New Career

Sometimes people get a few years (or more) into their career and realize it’s not a good fit anymore. One way to do a hard pivot into a new industry is to get a graduate degree related to the new work you want to do.

Whether you’re switching from education to business, or engineering to nursing, a formal degree may be the best - or only - option to make the career switch.

5) Fulfill Personal Interest

Wanting to be called a master or doctor of something might be all it takes to want to pursue graduate school. It can honestly change your life. As long as you love your reason for wanting to get another degree, that’s all that matters!

Why Companies Pay for Employees to Go Back to School

For companies, providing education benefits has three primary outcomes: 

1. Employee attraction and retention

2. Higher level of employee engagement

3. A more educated and effective workforce

In a volatile labor market, companies are giving more attention to benefits their employees want, will actually use, and that ultimately benefit the company - including education benefits like tuition reimbursement programs.

1) Employee Attraction & Retention

More and more people are looking for jobs with companies that will invest in their continued education through tuition benefits (Newsweek). 

With the knowledge that tuition benefits exist, current college students who know they will eventually go to graduate school strategically pursue companies that offer these benefits. The same goes for professionals who later decide they want to go back to school; if their current company does not offer education benefits, they may look for one that does.

8 in 10 employees who receive education benefits and have a positive experience working at a company are more likely to continue working there (Business Wire). Tuition coverage is a fairly inexpensive way for companies to show how much they value their employees’ personal and professional development, and those employees in turn may show loyalty by staying with the company after graduation.

2) Higher Employee Engagement

Employees who feel like their organization is invested in their further education are likely to be happier and more productive in their jobs (Recruiter). This also connects to retention; happier employees are also more likely to be loyal and stay with a company who invests in their professional development.

3) More Educated & Effective Workforce

Employees with graduate degrees can bring a fresh perspective to their work, think more critically about issues facing the company, and have strong decision-making skills as a result. Depending on the degree program, employees may also benefit from becoming stronger team players through group projects in class. 

One study found that 82% of employees believed they were more effective at work as a result of continuing their education through their company’s education benefits (Bright Horizons).

If you’re ready to make a big change in your career - whether leveling up or pivoting out - employers see you and value your commitment to education. 

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