 The top five master's degrees of 2023. In this video, we're gonna be talking about master's degrees that you can get that are actually relatively good. Because if you've watched my other videos, you know that a lot of master's degrees out there, in my opinion, are absolutely not worth it. And the reason for this is because on average, you go about $66,000 in debt for a master's degree. And the average debt among master's degree holders is about $71,000. So you definitely wanna make sure if you're gonna go that far into debt, you're getting a degree that has a good return on investment. So if you appreciate this type of video, go ahead and smash that like button, like a counter left cross from Connor McGregor. Oh, he's done, he's done. And let's jump right into it. Number five on the list is going to be technology related master's degrees. And specifically, I'm gonna be talking about a computer science degree. So obviously, you know, computer science degree, very good degree to get. It typically is gonna lead to like a software developer, software engineer type job, which are some of the best jobs that you can possibly get as well. But with that being said, is it worth it for you to get a master's? And the answer to that is, of course, it depends. It depends on the career path you're going for. If you're gonna try to get into something like, you know, AI or machine learning, something that's super big brain, getting a master's in many cases can be worth it. But if you're just trying to be a typical front-end dev, back-end dev, make some good money, you know, do your 40 hours and go home, enjoy your life, you absolutely do not need to get a master's degree in computer science. So again, this is where it's very important for you to figure out what your goals are and then figure out what you need to do in order to get to those goals, aka make a plan. But with that being said, about 12,000 people graduate with a master's degree in computer science per year. According to Glassdoor, computer scientists make about $106,000 a year. And if you type in computer science on LinkedIn, you're gonna see 191,000 results at the entry level. Now levels.fyi is a website where people actually anonymously share their salaries as well as their compensation and benefits. Really good resource for you to look into because when it comes to the actual salary, that's just a very small chunk of the total compensation you typically get with these jobs. And basically you can see which companies are compensating people really fairly. So there are many examples of people who are software developers, software engineers making over $500,000 a year, for instance. Number four on the list is going to be engineering masters. So again, just like computer science, there are certain positions where it might benefit you to get an engineering master's degree. You definitely don't need it for many, many positions out there. So it is so key that you do the research to make sure you actually need an engineering masters to get into certain positions. But for instance, electrical and electronics engineering, you do see 11,000 graduates getting master's degrees per year. And if you type in electrical engineering on Glassdoor, you're gonna see 95,000 results. Of course, with a master's degree, you'd typically make more money than the average person who got a bachelor's degree. So you're probably gonna make more money than that. And if you type in electrical engineer on LinkedIn at the entry level, you're gonna see 38,000 results. Next one on the list is going to be a data science master's degree. And this is one where it typically is gonna help you to get a master's degree. So this is some pretty big brain stuff. It is similar to machine learning or AI, that sort of thing. So in many cases, it is gonna help you to actually get a data science master's degree. But with that being said, it's not impossible to become a data scientist without a master's degree. In fact, there's many companies out there that sort of incentivize people to take positions by calling them data scientists instead of data analysts or data engineers. Now with that being said, the most common degree you see people getting at the master's level to become data scientist is going to be a statistics degree. And about 3,100 people graduate every year with a master's degree in statistics. And if you look up data scientist on Glassdoor, you're gonna see $123,000 a year for the results. And if you look up data scientists on LinkedIn at the entry level, you're gonna see 74,000 results. All right, next one on the list is going to be a master's degree that is actually transitioning into more of a doctoral degree. And that is going to be a nurse practitioner. Now the degree itself is called a master's of science in nursing or MSN. And according to the National Center of Education Statistics, there's 16,000 people graduating with master's degrees as registered nurses. And then another 12,000 people graduating with master's degrees in family practice nursing. But yeah, this is a phenomenal career to get into. They are transitioning over from incentivizing people to get masters to incentivizing them to actually get doctorates. But if you look up nurse practitioner on Glassdoor, you're gonna see $139,000 a year. And if you look it up on LinkedIn at the entry level, you're gonna see 196,000 results. But this is one where clearly you do actually have to get a degree. It's not one of those where it's like an option to get a degree, you absolutely have to get it. And so because of that, there is a really nice barrier to entry there where if you are able to get the degree, you have a lot of protection. So yeah, this can be a very good one to get into. Number one on the list is going to be a physician associate. And this one was previously known as a physician assistant. Now the reason I put this one as number one this year, I believe nurse practitioner was number one last year is because they are still a master's degree and it doesn't look like they're transitioning anytime soon. This one is relatively similar to nurse practitioner. I would say there's a little bit less demand. You make a little bit less, but it's more flexible and flexibility is super, super nice. I personally know somebody who actually worked in two different specialties at the same time as a physician associate. So if you work in a specialty, let's say dermatology and you get tired of it and you're a medical doctor, well, you still have to keep doing dermatology. But if you are a physician assistant or a nurse practitioner, it's actually much easier for you to transition into a different specialty like surgery, for instance. Now according to the National Center for Education Statistics, there's about 8,500 graduates per year for physician assistant master programs. And if you type in physician assistant on Glassdoor, you're gonna see $101,000 per year. You type in physician associate on LinkedIn, you're gonna see 41,000 results. And if you type in physician assistant on LinkedIn at the entry level, you're gonna see 71,000 results. So yeah, really good master's degrees. Typically speaking, the best master's degrees are gonna be health related just because of the fact that you have to get those degrees, right? There's a true barrier to entry there. Whereas the technology related degrees, it's kind of optional. Like you can get the degree, sometimes you don't have to. It's kind of one of those things where it's nice to have a choice, whether you get it or you don't, depending on your situation and your goals. But with that being said, most of the time I'd say 80% of the time consulting with people, they absolutely do not need to get a master's degrees. Honestly, probably more than 80%, probably more like 95%. Once we've determined what their goals are, we see that there are many other alternative routes that are much faster, more efficient, and more cost effective than getting a master's degree. Because you know it's worth way more than a master's degree, which is gonna take anywhere from six to eight years on average, six to eight years of work experience. It's much, much more valuable than six to eight years to get a master's degree. Not only are you gonna be making money during those six to eight years of time, but you're also gonna get work experience, which is much more valuable than the theoretical stuff that you're gonna learn in the classroom. So one career path that's great to get into that's super, super valuable and really flexible is digital marketing. I've done a bunch of different interviews on this channel of people who have gotten into digital marketing. For instance, I did an interview with Javier on this channel, and he was basically going through a graduate level program. And he had certain goals that he wanted to get to. And about halfway through, he realized like, he's doing, you know, he's working over 80 hours a week. A lot of the stuff he was doing, he didn't expect to be doing. Also, a lot of the jobs that he was going for are super competitive, and he probably wasn't even gonna be able to get them. And even if he did land them, they didn't pay all that well. So instead, he decided to learn digital marketing and he was able to land a job right off the bat. And if you want a free masterclass on how to get into a career like digital marketing where there's just a ton of demand, the pay is really good, you can get into it without a college degree or experience, I'll put that down in the description as well as the pinned comment below. And definitely check out that interview with Javier right here.