 What's happening? It's Shane here. And in today's video, I have something very special for you. This is something that has been requested over and over again. I'm going to be talking about all different types of degrees, not just bachelor's. I'm going to be talking about associates, bachelor's, master's, doctorates, and even professional degrees and ranking them from the best to the worst with S tier being the best and F tier being the worst. Right. So it's very difficult to compare an associate's degree to a doctoral degree, especially if you put in factors like how much you care about learning, how much you care about knowledge, et cetera. So I'm keeping this video strictly financial. I'm not going to be talking about achieving your life goals or learning or meaning or anything like that. I'm just purely going to be talking about how much you get from a return on your investment perspective. So with that being said, right after you gently tap that like button, hit the subscribe button and ring the notification bell. Let's get right into it. First one on the list is going to be an engineering bachelor degree. So this is going to be an engineering degree at the bachelor level should take around four years or so, although it's not uncommon for engineers to take five years, sometimes even six years to get their degree just because it's so difficult. But with that being said, once you get that degree at the bachelor's level, historically speaking, there is none that are better when you look at the statistics, when you look at how much they make over a lifetime. So if you're up for the challenge, if you're okay with taking a really difficult degree, and if it's something that you enjoy doing, this one definitely is going to go into S tier. Next, let's talk about engineering degrees at the master's level. So this would be like a six year degree, although again with engineering, it would likely take a little bit longer. There are certain circumstances where this can be worth it from a financial perspective. Usually I would say it's probably a little bit less worth it. You don't really need a master's in engineering in many different cases. A bachelor's is going to teach you a lot, and everything you need to learn after that point is likely just going to be on the job, hands on experience. So for that reason, I'm going to go ahead and put engineering masters into a tier. Next on the list is going to be an engineering doctorate. So this is going to be where someone gets a PhD in engineering. Very, very difficult to get. It doesn't just take eight years. It actually likely will take a lot longer than that. So you're basically going to have four years of undergrad, two years to get your master's, and then the engineering PhD might take like an extra four years. PhDs after the bachelor level take over eight years on average. Engineering PhDs do tend to be a little bit faster than that, but it's probably going to take you about 10 years of schooling at least. And again, most engineering jobs out there do not require you to get a doctorate, but there are a few select jobs where they would rather have somebody who has a little bit more in terms of research skills. And obviously a PhD would get you very prepared for that. And so for that reason, I'm going to go ahead and put engineering doctorate into B tier. Next on the list is going to be an engineering related associates degree. So this would likely get you into some type of engineering technician role. This is usually going to be a two year degree. So not that much time commitment. And what you get out of it is relatively decent. I'm going to go ahead and put this one into a tier, but I would say it's very high a tier. Next one on the list is math degrees at the bachelor's level. So math is one of those degrees where, you know, the numbers are pretty decent. It might be a little bit difficult for you to get your first job out of college, just because what you learn a little bit theoretical doesn't necessarily apply all that easily to the real world. But with that being said, companies do like to hire math majors because they know that they're really smart. And being good at math, having the skill of mathematics is pretty rare. Honestly, not that many people are good at it. And so if you are one of those select few that's good at it, you know, that's just going to give you an advantage. So math at the bachelor's level, I'm going to go ahead and put it into a tier. Now math at the associate level, relatively decent, not amazing. There's just not all that many jobs you can do at the associate level. It's still better than a lot of other types of associate degrees. But overall, on the grand spectrum of things, I'm going to go ahead and put it into B tier math degrees at the master's level, I would say are a little bit better than math degrees at the associate level in terms of your return on investment. Still not quite good enough to make it into a tier. But I would say it's almost like low a tier. I think I'm going to put it into high B tier. And then math at the doctoral level, again, ridiculous amount of time and effort spent to get a PhD, very, very difficult. You should never go for a PhD for the money. Okay, if you're going for a PhD, the reason you're doing it is because maybe it's something you're super passionate about, there's something that you want to do that you can only do if you get a PhD. Or maybe you're just so passionate about it that you want to move the field forward. You want that high level training, that high level research training, so that you can literally, you know, move the field forward, create new discoveries that nobody has ever even found before. But if you're just talking purely from a financial perspective, not going to be the best. So for that reason, math doctorate is going to go into C tier. All right, next is going to be technology degrees at the associate level. And under this, I'm also including technology related certifications and sometimes boot camps, because these a lot of the time are going to take, you know, maybe one to two years as well. There's also a lot of options to get your bachelor's degree in technology in an extremely accelerated format. So the technology field is one of those things where getting a degree is definitely not a bad idea. It's just that there might be better alternatives depending on the situation you're trying to get into and also the person. So keep that in mind when it comes to technology related degrees. With that being said, technology associates, S tier, really good. And there's also a lot of other options besides getting an associates degree that take around the same amount of time that are fantastic as well. So technology degrees at the associate level goes into S tier. Same thing with technology degrees at the bachelor's level. Computer science is maybe the best degree that you can get, at least in my prediction it is just because of the fact that it's a such a valuable skill. It's going to be incredibly valuable over the next 40 years. So yeah, the technology industry is one of the best possible industries that you can work in. The benefits are incredible. The companies spoil people. You get paid really well. A lot of the time you also have bonuses, access to stock options, just incredible stuff. Technology industry, one of the best industries you can work in. So you know, technology related bachelor's degrees S tier. Now technology degrees at the master's level, in my opinion, most of the time for most positions, you just simply do not need this. There are a few exceptions out there. A lot of people think that, you know, data scientists, for instance, it's better to get your master's degree. So, you know, this one, I'm going to put it in high A tier status, almost squeaks into S tier. Then technology degrees at the doctoral level, still really good just because of the fact that, you know, it's technology, you're probably going to be going into the tech industry. But again, the sacrifices you have to make to get a PhD, very, very difficult, very, very difficult. So this one, I'm going to put into B tier. Next one on the list is going to be business related associate degrees. This is one where it can be really solid, really good option. There are a lot of things that you can do with a business degree. It's extremely flexible. At the associate level, I would say it's B tier status. Now a business degree at the bachelor's level, kind of a mixed bag here. There's some that are very good. There's some that are clearly S tier. There's some that are not good at all. They're like maybe C or D tier. But overall, you know, balancing everything out, all things being equal. I think I'm going to put business degrees at the bachelor's level in A tier. I would say it's high A tier though. Business degrees at the master's level. So this is one where it's really, really tough to say sometimes it can be worth it. Sometimes I'd say a lot of the time it's not worth it. There's so many MBAs out there these days. There's so many different programs that get MBAs. You can even do it, you know, in the same amount of time while you're getting another degree. And because of that, because of that saturation is just not all that special anymore. It doesn't really make you stand apart from anyone else. And then the skill of business itself is one of those things where in my opinion, you know, there's only so much you can learn in a classroom, right? A lot of the time you're just going to have to get that hands-on experience in order to learn the real skills, the real money makers. So for that reason, I'm going to go ahead and put business degrees at the master's level in low B tier. Now business degree, doctorates, again, it's one of those things. Unless you're going to become a professor unless that is your goal to become a professor and you have a pretty good shot at getting there, usually getting a PhD from a financial perspective is probably not going to be worth it. And same thing goes for a business degree at the doctoral level. This one I would put into C tier. Next one on the list is going to be a science related associate degree. So getting an associate in some type of science related field, there's certain fields where it's okay, certain degrees where it's okay, you can become like maybe a laboratory technician or a laboratory assistant. But most of the time when it comes to science, you do have to have more training. Science is one of those things where a lot of it you do have to learn in the classroom, right? So for that reason, science related associates, that's going to go into D tier. Next is going to be a science related a bachelor's degree. So this is going to be one where sometimes it's worth it. Again, a lot of the time it isn't out of the four big ones, you know, in STEM, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, science is definitely the weakest one. And at the bachelor's level, especially a lot of the time the training you get just isn't enough, you have to get a master's or a doctorate in many cases to be able to go for a lot of those jobs that people want. So the best I can do with science degrees at the bachelor's level is going to be B tier science degrees at the master's level, sometimes a little bit better. Okay, so there's a lot of jobs out there, you don't quite need a doctorate master's okay, extra two years, you know, that's something that a lot of people can do without totally disrupting their life. So I'm still going to put it into B tier, but I would say it's a little bit higher on the B tier status. So I'd say B plus. And then a science related doctorate, there are many positions out there in the science field where you do actually have to have a doctorate a PhD in order to get into those roles. So science is one of those things where oftentimes, you know, it may be worth it for you to go for a PhD, it just kind of sucks that you have to do that, right? You don't really have an option, you have to get a master's at least, and in many cases, a PhD, whereas there's a lot of ones out there like engineering, for instance, where you go to engineering, you get your bachelor's and then if you feel like it, if you want to go to school more, great, you can do that. But if you don't, you can get a job very easily. And it's very nice to have that option. Whereas with science, a lot of the time, you don't really have much of an option. So science related doctorate, I'm going to go ahead and also put it into B tier. Okay, so liberal arts degrees at the associate level, really tough to find a job, especially with just an associates degree. If you do want to work in a liberal arts related job, you are going to have to pursue higher education. So, you know, associates degree, I would have to give this one F tier status. Liberal arts degree at the bachelor's level. There are some positions out there where you just need a degree in order to apply. One example of that for many different airlines, for instance, is becoming a stewardess, right? So somebody who works as a flight attendant or a stewardess, a lot of the time, these airlines do want to see you have a bachelor's degree. And so if that's the type of position you're going for, maybe it might be worth it for you to get a liberal arts bachelor's degree, just because of the fact that there's a kind of silly, in my opinion, minimum requirement of having a bachelor's degree in order to get a job. But with that being said, many people end up having to go for these positions when in the reality, they wanted to work in a liberal arts related field. And then they find out too late that they have to get a master's minimum and in many cases, a doctorate. So for that reason, I'm going to go ahead and put a liberal arts bachelor's degree into D tier. Now liberal arts degree at the master's level, sometimes that will open the door for you to make it into some of these jobs that you're aiming for. And it's not too much of a commitment, right? An extra two years after your bachelor's is not too bad. And so I'd say this one is going to rank the best out of all the liberal arts degrees, I'm going to put it into C tier, then a liberal arts degree at the doctoral level. Again, unless you're going for, you know, trying to become a professor and you have a good shot of making it, which, you know, barely any people are able to become a full time professor that gets tenured. It's very rare. This is not going to be a good choice from a financial perspective. PhD just takes too long. It's too intensive. So liberal arts degree at the doctoral level is going to go into F tier. Art related associates degrees are next. And interestingly enough, you're probably going to be surprised. I'm a little bit open minded when it comes to this because let's say you are a filmmaker or something like that, you want to break into filmmaking. If you're a complete outsider, you don't have any connections, you don't have any formal training at all. It's going to be very difficult for you to break into that, right? So sometimes going to art school for maybe like one or two years or so, just to get some connections, get some advice from professors who've seen which students have failed, which students have been successful. And, you know, you might be able to glean something from that. That can in some cases be worth it. And also just learning the basics about art. Sometimes that can be worth it as well. But yeah, I would say the biggest thing is meeting like minded people. So your peers, other students are also people who want to work as a professional artist. And then being able to expand your network by meeting the professors and, you know, going to different events. So for that reason, I am going to put art related associates degrees and you're probably going to be surprised by this into C tier. Now art related bachelor's degrees, I think doing the full four years usually is not going to be worth it for you. Just from a financial perspective, again, you know, if you're somebody who really loves art, if you're somebody who's a prodigy, if you have a very specific circumstance, sometimes it can be worth it. But overall, when it comes to the numbers, not such a great thing. This one goes into F tier art related master's degrees. This one, you know, again, there's certain positions where you have to get a master's degree in order to even be considered for it. So you know, maybe there's some type of teaching position where you have to have that formal education. So I think art related master's degrees are just going to barely squeak into D tier art related doctorate degrees. And again, this is not becoming a professor, almost never going to be worth it unless you are like a child prodigy, right? Like let's say you are somebody who is world class at some type of instrument, for instance, and you get an opportunity to go to a super good school like Juilliard, something like that. You're basically in the top 99.9th percentile. And you do think that you could probably benefit from that formal training. So in very rare cases like that, getting an art related doctorate could be worth it for you, but usually not going to be worth it. So I'm going to put this one into F tier, maybe like high F tier status. Next one on the list, health related associate degrees and health degrees are the one, I'm just going to say it right now, they are good at every single level, whether it's a one year certification all the way to, you know, going to med school, eight years and then doing a seven year residency, they are incredibly good. So health related associates, S tier health related bachelors, S tier health related masters, S tier and health related doctorates like medical doctor, for instance, or dentist, et cetera, also is going to be S tier. Next one on the list is going to be master's level professional degrees. So professional degrees, the way to think about these is it's almost like a degree mixed with a trade career. So it's a type of career where you need specialized training, but that specialized training has to be done in a classroom. So examples of master's level professional degrees would be a nurse practitioner at the master's level, physician associate that's another master's level professional degree. So these are some of the best possible degrees out there. They are extremely solid. This one is going into S tier. Next one on the list is going to be doctoral degrees at the professional level. Now the difference between professional doctorates versus PhDs is usually professional doctorates you can get done in eight years, sometimes even less than that. So for instance, I got a professional doctorate, a farm D, I was able to do it in five years and nine months. Whereas PhDs, like I said, on average, take about 12 years. So getting a PhD in many cases is much more difficult than any professional degree, except you could argue getting a medical doctorate getting a medical doctor. It's pretty difficult because you have to do that residency. So you could almost argue that that one is as hard as a PhD if not harder. However, there are some doctoral level professional degrees like a JD, which you would get to become a lawyer that in my opinion, definitely are not S tier. They're not even a tier, they're probably B tier at the best. So for that reason, I'm going to put doctoral related professional degrees into high A tier status almost makes it into S tier. All right, so I hope this cleared up a lot of your questions. I know people have been very confused when I compare, you know, associates to doctorate and it's really difficult to compare because it's truly like comparing apples to oranges. But this is just my opinion from a financial perspective, which ones are worth it and which ones are not worth it. There's always so many other things that you have to consider. And I've made many videos on this channel that, you know, hopefully help you make those considerations. So before you leave, if you haven't done already, check out my other videos right here, hit the like button, hit the subscribe button, ring the notification bell and comment down below any thoughts, comments, criticisms, et cetera. And I will see you next time.