“Different” Graduate Programs

We always hear about the popular graduate programs such as business, education, social work, and psychology.  In reality, there are hundreds of different graduate degree subjects, and variations within in each subject.

Here are some of the lesser known graduate degree programs, the purpose of the degree, and where you may be able to obtain one.

1. Outdoor Education – Both Masters and PhDs are awarded in this particular field of study.  This particular program forces students to go beyond the traditional textbook learning style and test their limits in other capacities.  A Masters in Outdoor Education provides the degree earner with the skills and knowledge necessary to advance in such professions as recreation directors, park directors and physical education instructors.  Two schools offering these masters programs include The University of New Hampshire and La Trobe University.
2. Women’s Studies – This masters degree program focuses on sex & gender as they relate to societal issues.  The general Women’s Studies graduate program will equip its graduates with the tools to serve as social advocates, writers, social policy workers, or even politicians.  Visit Smith College for more information about a program in this field.
3. Peace Studies – A Masters in PhD in Peace Studies will prepare its graduates for mediation in all aspects of life.  The connotation is that the course material applies to political conflict resolution.  However, Peace Studies graduate degrees provide the theoretical and practical knowledge for graduates to work in general business or education settings.   Here is a listing of some of the  Peace Studies Graduate Programs in the United States.

Masters in Education – Popular Field of Study

In a former post, we discussed the outstanding popularity of master’s degree programs in education among women and African Americans.  The popularity, however, is not limited to these specific demographic segments.   A master’s degree in General Education affords enough mobility to appeal to all types of people.  Most graduate institutions allow graduate students in general education to tailor the program to suit their career needs.

One of the other reasons the Education graduate field is so popular is because the entrance requirements typically do not require undergraduate work in the exact field.  Someone with a bachelor’s degree in Biology or Accounting can pursue a Master’s Degree in Education.

In terms of career options, the Master’s Degree in Education helps create numerous potential paths.  Besides the obvious choices of teacher, principal, and superintendent, people with a Master’s in Education can tailor the program to meet the professional requirements in general business, music, nutrition, and other such fields.

Related Sites:

NEA

ACE

Student Loans

With the increasing costs of graduate school programs, student loan vendors seem to be everywhere.  Each student loan company offers its own “brand” of benefits.  Here are two quick tips to keep in mind when considering student loans:

1. Interest rate reductions can be extremely helpful in the long-term period of paying over time. With interest rate reductions,  the borrower will typically realize the benefit of the reduction each year.   If the  plan is to repay the student loan as soon as possible, a principal reduction may be a better option.

2. Understand the guidelines and restrictions of the student loan and the lending company.  This piece of advice is simple, but it is crucial.  Make monthly payments on time. Be sure to understand what the lender considers to be a payment made during the appropriate time frame.

For more in-depth information about Student Loans, please visit:

Finance your graduate school studies

Financial Aid for Grad School

Value of an MBA

The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) released the data and summary report for the 2008 Global MBA Graduate Survey.  The report includes key findings specifically related to the “value” of the degree, as well as salary expectations for MBA program graduates.

One of the most interesting items in the report is the comparison (by program type) of student satisfaction levels.   The program types  analyzed include  Full-Time, Part-Time, and Executive MBA.

For additional information/opinions about the value of an MBA degree, please visit:

Business School Calculator

Seth’s Blog

Value of an MBA

Importance of Relevant Landing Pages

What is the purpose of your graduate school website?

Do you (admissions/marketing) use it simply for its face presence on the internet?  Is it purely informational content?  Do you use it as a lead generation source?

Regardless of the answer, your graduate school website should still exist to serve the visitor and school to its fullest potential.

All too often, a visitor will click on a paid keyword link for “This University psychology graduate programs” and land on the school’s general homepage.  Or, a visitor will follow an admissions link on a school directory and end up (once again) at the homepage.

From a marketing perspective, the idea is to deliver the most relevant information to the prospective student as early in the search process as possible.  If a prospective student is just browsing psychology programs through search engine results, your school is probably missing out on a lot of potential leads by not delivering the correct content to them at the start of their website visit.  A targeted landing page is also a potential aid in decreasing FAQ call volume about specific programs.

Figure out the purpose of your website.  Direct your paid traffic to the most relevant and targeted pages possible.  If they search by school name > direct them to the homepage.  If they are looking for a specific program > lead them to the program’s page.  If you’re advertising a specific graduate subject on a directory > link to the subject curriculum or applicable page.

You may be able to look at your website stats and see that people are staying on your site for seemingly long periods of time and mistake that for engagement.  Are they on the right pages for the right amount of time?  Do they need to hunt and click through 4 or 5 pages before finding the content they originally intended to consume?

Using Twitter to Market Your Graduate Program?

Twitter is a great social networking tool that allows users to “tweet” or create posts and follow the activities of others.

Could Twitter also be used as a promotional tool? At first, it seemed like every blogger and entrepreneur was creating posts and linking back to his/her site(s) with the hopes of creating a new source of traffic and link juice.

The (quiet) debate continues over the actual SEO value of Twitter. It’s hard to actually get indexed, although some users have managed to succeed in this area. There is also an apparent unspoken set of outrageous conditions that must be satisfied before the links will actually turn into search engine power-ups.

However, the viral aspect still remains. Twitter can be a very good source to simply gain name recognition without exhausting a marketing budget. Beyond that, it can be a great outlet to turn an announcement into a truly “viral” marketing piece.

Twitter can be a good outlet for graduate programs to announce upcoming events, let followers know about any current advancements in the department, or simply follow their designated personas in their daily online lives. It can also be used in coordination with email marketing as a way to promote website content that struggles in search engine rankings.

MBA Healthcare

MBA degrees are no longer tailored specifically to marketing and general business principles. Graduate schools are now providing MBA programs in various disciplines and fields of study. One of the more popular MBA programs is the MBA in Healthcare.

Health care companies crave MBAs because of the spiraling costs within the industry (according to Del Jones for USA Today). The emerging technologies also create the need for MBA-caliber management. MBA graduates in this discipline often enter positions as Payment Analysts, Directors of Nurisng, Hospital CFOs/CEOs, Health Care Product Managers, and Analysis Managers.

Many sources rate the salaries of Healthcare MBA graduates in the $100k range.

2009 Business School Rankings

U.S. News & World Report released its rankings for Top Graduate Schools of 2009.  In MBA programs, Harvard, Stanford, Penn (Wharton), MIT, and Northwestern (Kellogg) composed the top 5.  Please Visit 2009 Business Schools for the detailed ranking.

Marketer’s Guide to Tracking Leads Online (Simple Version)

Many graduate program sites now serve more of a business purpose than basic school and contact information.  The “adapters” in the grad school realm are now attempting to lead site visitors down a lead generation path.  As the recruiting field becomes more competitive, graduate program Marketing Departments are reallocating  their  spending  and putting more emphasis  on internet marketing activities.

To the novice, this practice can be extremely overwhelming.  How much should you bid on certain keywords?  Is it better to put more money into ads on a niche site than spend it all on search engines?  Is a low CPC always the best option?

These answers can all be obtained for free (almost).  Currently, Google Analytics is offered as a free tool to help marketers answer these (and other) common online marketing questions.  Microsoft has a similar product in beta, and Yahoo! recently purchased IndexTools, which will both serve similar purposes.

The set-up is simple: 1. Sign Up for an account 2. Enter your website(s) 3. Paste the provided JavaScript code onto the web pages you wish to track.  After completion of these three steps, you will be able to view out-of-box reports that will help you understand who your visitors are and where they are coming from.

Beyond the basic implementation, graduate program marketers can also set up goals in the Admin console.  By using goals, a marketer can assign a dollar amount to a “lead” and track it back to the referring source.  This practice allows for a better understanding of what advertising outlets are worth the cost.  You may be paying $0.50 per click on a search engine which gives you 5,000 visitors/month, but notice that only 5 of those 5,000 visitors filled out a lead form or submitted a contact request.  You may also notice that the site which resulted in  $15 per click converted to 150 leads during the same time frame.

In the epic, and seemingly endless, battle for prospective graduate students, marketing departments must be prepared and armed with knowledge of how to best obtain enrollments.

Women in MBA Programs

Currently, about half of the people who take the GMAT are female. However, women only compose 30% of the enrolled population in MBA Programs. Thirty percent is a significant increase from 20-30 years ago, but it suggests that there is still a gender imbalance in the collective MBA programs.

The disparity between men and women in graduate business school has prompted some schools to adopt new recruiting methods aimed at potential female applicants.

Why MBA Programs?

An MBA degree is versatile and can add value to any field. MBA graduates work in a variety of different settings and industries. Today, graduate schools are offering MBA degrees in specific fields such as MBA in Accounting, MBA in Ecommerce, and MBA in entrepreneurship.

An MBA will deliver a general management education and help a graduate’s chances of moving into senior-level positions. MBA graduates are often the highest paid employees within the US. with median salaries near $100k per year.

Reasons Women do not Enroll in MBA Programs

Common excuses:

• There are not enough women role models and business leaders.
• The faculty is male-dominated.
• MBA programs are inflexible and not compatible with family/home/work life.

Resources

professional organizations for women:

American Business Women’s Association (ABWA)