Is a graduate degree worth the effort and time?

I have been asked several times whether spending the time and the effort for a graduate degree is worth it? I will give my answer, assuming a graduate degree in Kuwait University, mainly oriented towards the Master's degree in computer science.

Cost of a graduate degree

A graduate degree does not come without financial investment in most countries, a heavy one. Even if you spent very little on your undergraduate degree, it is unlikely that you will get a free Master's degree or a Ph.D. degree. The reason is that governments are obliged to give you the essential education you need to start contributing to the economy, not the extra luxury that you think you need. Today, graduates with a bachelor's degree have a perfect chance to get an excellent job with decent compensation. So, a free Master's degree? Nah. But, this isn't true concerning Kuwait University. A graduate student, once accepted, has a reasonable amount of time to finish the degree requirements. The fees are negligible, and the number of required credit hours is small (21 credit hours for a thesis-based option in CS).

Getting a graduate degree also requires effort and time, two other costs. You will need to attend classes, work on assignments and projects, and finally write a good thesis and defend it. These all take a lot of your time. A massive effort is required from the courses, and significant mental and brain energy should be spent on the thesis. So, these are the actual costs of a Master's degree in computer science at Kuwait University. But is it worth it?

Think of your objective

There could be three benefits from a Master's degree. First, taking courses that were not available at the undergraduate level and learning new material. The volume of knowledge and things that one does not get to learn in an undergraduate degree is enormous. Many cannot believe how far the computer science field has gone and how each area is enlarged and branched to become an independent field of study. So, looking at the possible courses, one should decide what they want to learn and what degree and depth and work accordingly. In many graduate degree programs, groups of students can coordinate with the program director for a specific elective to be offered because of the low number of students. So, it is a good idea to convince peers to join a program together and collaborate. It is even better if the selection of courses would directly influence your career and advances you towards promotions or higher monetary gain.

The second benefit is the moral and social prestige of the Master's degree, added to a possible small raise in the salary. In my opinion, this is not a an important objective unless you have a plan to monetize it somehow. However, surprisingly, many apply for a Master's program, having moral and social prestige as their top priority. They will lose hope once they see the gains are not really worth the effort.

I kept the most critical benefit at the end: the thesis. The thesis is supposed to be an exploration of a tiny research area focusing on finding the answer to a specific question. This exploration naturally leads to ideas for improving the available answers (or sometimes coming up with an answer when none exists), which is the essence of the thesis. The thesis ends with a rigorous or an experimental evaluation of the answer to the question, convincing the community around the research area. This whole process takes you on a journey of many personal skills. You get to know a new area of knowledge, you understand research and the cutting edge technology, you enhance your analytical abilities, you learn new ways to write programs, and you get to go through a continuous process of generating evidence and developing arguments to strengthen the evidence that backs your work. You will come out of this a different person if done correctly. Now, in the case of the Master's degree, it's a lot milder, I should say.

Is it really worth it?

It depends on the person and the program. Remember that if you apply for a graduate degree, you are applying to work with a specific faculty member in the department that offers the degree. This should be clear early on. You're in the wrong department if you do not see your match. Also, if you cannot spare the time and have much more important things to do, then move far away from a graduate degree. Nevertheless, keep in mind that the future is for the knowledge economy. Even fossil-fuel-based economies will eventually turn their attention to knowledge as the actual value produced in an economy. Further, in a severely competitive and tight job market, one needs anything to distinguish from others. So, think very seriously about it.