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I never figured out how to fund a masters
Editor Edmund Greaves ponders where his career has taken him and how it could have been so different – if he’d had the money.
I don’t usually reflect too much on my career so far. I have no regrets – I love to write and talk about everything I do and there’s no point rueing past missed chances or anything of that nature.
But there was one really clear point at which my career (which began in 2012 as a freelance journalist) could have gone quite differently.
That is because, for the briefest of moments, I considered doing a masters degree.
It was 2012 and my undergraduate degree was wrapping up. I had studied History and Spanish and was really not that clear on what I wanted to do next.
Unlike many of my (now very successful!) peers, I didn’t try to get on any graduate programs – seemed like too much paperwork and box ticking for my liking.
Instead, I kind of just drifted until effectively an opportunity punched me in the mouth. The rest, as they say, is history – and here I am now 13 or so years into a career in journalism.
But for a moment during that drift – I seriously looked at the idea of doing a masters. I wanted to do international relations, vaguely attracted to the idea and (self-conceived) notions of life as an international diplomat.
One thing really stood in my way though, I had no idea how to pay for it. It was that stumbling block, more than anything else, that stopped me from pursuing it.
At this time, the Government’s own postgraduate loan system had yet to be created – only arriving in 2016.
Return on investment
The job market for graduates in 2012 was pretty tough. In 2025, it is by all accounts absolutely dreadful.
With so many people now getting undergraduate degrees the need to stand out is rising constantly, making masters and even doctoral degrees more attractive.
In the latest Mouthy Money podcast, we met with Rishi Zaveri, one of the founders of higher education lender Lendwise to discuss. Rishi was emphatic – masters degrees make a huge difference to lifetime earnings. It represents a considerable and valuable investment in onself and one’s career.
This is fairly evident through Government figures on it: the average graduate salary is £26,000, while for a masters grad this goes up to £29,500 – a cool 13.5% difference.
Scale that up over a 40-year career and the potential for long-term earnings and pension savings – cannot be understated.
The return on your personal educational investment could be invaluable – even if you have to take on some debt to do it.
That being said, I don’t regret that I never took a masters, I am grateful for the career I have had so far. But my pension might not be so grateful day, although I guess we’ll never really know!
Photo credits: Pexels
