 What's happening guys? It's Shane here and today we're going to be going over the different types of degrees. So we're going to be talking about associates degrees, bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, doctoral degrees and professional degrees. We're going to be talking about the differences in all of them, how long they take and everything that is important that has to do with these types of degrees. This is something that confuses a lot of people and by the end of this video all the confusion is going to be gone. You're going to know everything you need to know about the distinctions between these different types of degrees. But before we get into it, make sure to gently tap that like button. Let's go for a thousand likes on this video. And on top of that, if you haven't done it already, hit the subscribe button. Only about 20% of you are subscribed. The rest of you are just lurking on my videos. Come on now. So the first one we're going to talk about on this list is the easiest one to get. It doesn't take as much time. That's going to be the associates degree. These degrees are typically going to take around two years. You can attend a community college or a university in order to receive one. This is your first degree that you can get, very bare bones. It takes around 60 credit hours in order for you to receive it. And for the most part, most of your associates degree is going to be comprised of general education or prerequisite classes. These are going to be your basic intro level like 101 type classes, English 101, math 101, psychology 101, etc. And then depending on what major you pick, there is going to be a small amount of classes that are going to be devoted to that major. And to be honest with you, many people actually end up skipping the associates degree altogether if they're going for a bachelor's. However, if you're somebody who doesn't want to go to four years of school, or you know, you want to go to a community college, you don't want to go to the more expensive state schools or public or private schools, there are some very good associate level degrees that you can get. I've talked about this in several videos where I go over some very solid associate level degrees that are going to land you jobs and they only take around two years. Now, sometimes associate degrees are going to get thrown in and kind of bunched in with different certifications that can take around two to three years as well. And there are a lot of really good associate level degrees that take around two years or so in the health field as well as technology. Next on the list is going to be a bachelor degree, which is generally going to take around four years and it's going to be around 120 credit hours. Now, in my opinion, there are many bachelor majors where it really shouldn't take four years in order to get them done and they can be done in like two to three years and then there's some where it's pretty tough and it's going to be hard to even get it done in four years. It might even take you five, but colleges kind of just make every single major fit into that cookie cutter four-year mold because in my opinion, they're kind of stuck in the past and they haven't really caught up with the times. But I've talked about this in other videos, but there are ways for you to reduce the amount of time that it takes to get a bachelor degree. Sometimes you can cut it in half so you can get a bachelor degree in two years instead of four. Graduating two years early, not only is going to save you money, time, but it's also going to save you opportunity cost because you can start working two years earlier than everybody else. Now, when it comes to your return on investment for how much you have to spend in order to get a degree versus how much it's going to return to you out of all these different types of degrees, the bachelor degree does seem to be on average the one that gives you the best ROI. What I mean by that is the next one on the list, which is going to be a master's degree, is going to cost quite a bit more, but it's not going to make you all that much more when it comes to your future projected salary. That's because one of the things that's great about getting these undergraduate level degrees, which would be the associate's degree and the bachelor degree, is you only have to take out undergraduate loans. And undergraduate loans are much more favorable in many different ways than the grad plus loans you have to take out to go to grad school. So there's a lot to this, but for one thing, the interest rates on undergraduate loans are going to be somewhere around three to five percent usually, whereas the interest rates on grad plus loans are around 7%. So the next one on the list is going to be a master's degree. This is the one that you would go into after you've already gotten a bachelor's. This is going to be another extra 40 to 60 credit hours, right? So you already took your 120 credit hours to get your bachelor's degree, and then the master's is going to be another 40 to 60. So you could end up taking 180 credit hours total. Now in my opinion, master level degrees can sometimes be worth it when you look at it from a financial perspective. It really depends though, it's not always going to give you a better ROI than just getting the bachelor degree alone, and a lot of the time it's just going to complicate things. So for instance, there are some master level degrees where you will actually end up being over qualified for entry level positions after you graduate, but generally you can knock a master's level degree out in about two years or so. So overall, that would be four years for your bachelor degree, and then another two years for your master's. So master's degrees are generally going to take around six years. Now next one on the list is going to be a PhD. This is going to be a doctorate of philosophy. Now this isn't the same type of doctor that you go to see when you're getting like a medical checkup. This is different. This is more of an academic doctorate. And basically a simple way of describing this is, you know, you get your associate's degree, and you know a little bit about a subject, right? You know a decent amount about it. You get your bachelor's degree, and you're pretty, pretty well versed in the subject. You know a lot about it. You get your master's degree, and you're like an expert, like you are a master in that subject, no pun intended. If you get a PhD, you know so much about a certain subject that you can actually move the entire field forward and discover completely new things. So you have such a high level understanding of the subject that instead of having to read the books, you can write the books yourself. Now a PhD, they say takes around 90 credit hours or so, but there's actually a lot more to it than that. First of all, when you're doing your PhD, you're going to be doing a lot of hands on work. A lot of the time you're going to be working like eight to 12 hours a day. You might be doing it in a lab or an office setting, kind of depending on what degree you're going for. And on top of that, you have to write what's known as a dissertation. That is original research, and then you have to defend that original research in front of a panel of experts. If you're able to successfully do this, then you can graduate with your PhD or your doctorate level degree. Now a lot of people think in theory that a doctorate only takes another two years because they think of a doctoral level degree as eight years total, right? So the associate's degree was two years, the bachelor degree was four years, master's was six years, and then the doctorate is another two years on top of that, right? So it's eight years. Not right at all. That is totally wrong. PhDs on average will take around eight years all on their own. So you might have gotten a bachelor's, a master's, and then you begin a PhD program that takes around eight years. Sometimes they integrate the master's and the PhD program together, and so that can take a little bit less time. But still you get my point, many people do not graduate with their PhD until they're in their early to mid 30s. And many people don't graduate at all because it's extremely rigorous, right? There is a reason that people who get PhDs get so much respect because getting a PhD is incredibly difficult. Now from a financial standpoint, I've done videos on this, I've broken down the numbers. Generally speaking, getting a PhD from a financial standpoint is not going to be a good idea. There's really only two reasons that you should seek out getting a PhD. And that is one, you truly love the subject, like you're just absolutely in love with it. And you want to know everything you possibly can about that subject. And two, the only way that you can reach your goals, which would generally be like moving the entire field forward somehow. So, you know, coming up with completely new ideas, new discoveries is getting that PhD, right? So if you're thinking about getting a PhD for financial reasons, because you're going to make more money, I can almost guarantee you it's not going to be worth it. Sometimes master's degrees can be worth it financially. PhDs almost never. Now the next one on the list I'm going to talk about is going to be professional degrees. Now professional degrees are usually master's or doctorate level degrees, but do not get them confused with PhDs. PhDs and professional degrees are not the same thing, right? So you might get your medical doctorate, but that is not a PhD. That is not a doctorate of philosophy. Medical doctors don't have to create a dissertation and then defend it, for instance. So it's completely different. Generally speaking, professional degrees are the highest paying type of degree on average. They're also going to generally take less time to complete than a PhD. So for instance, a Farm D, that's a professional degree, that's the degree that I have, that can take sometimes six to eight years instead of the PhD, which a lot of the time is going to take 10 to 12 years. And that includes all of the undergraduate study as well as the post grad study. So some examples of professional degrees would be a JD, that's what you would get in order to become a lawyer. Another one would be a MPA or Masters of Public Administration. Another one would be an MSW or Masters of Social Work. And one thing you'll notice about nearly all of these professional degrees is they directly lead into a specific career, right? So you get this degree and you know exactly what career you're going for. If you get a medical doctorate, you're going to become a medical doctor. If you get a Farm D, you're going to become a pharmacist. If you get a JD, you're trying to become a lawyer. Whereas with a lot of other types of degrees, it can be a lot more wishy-washy. You think you're going to go into this field, you graduate, you can't find a job and you end up getting a job in a completely different field. So that's one of the great things about professional degrees is they tend to be very straightforward in terms of what type of degree you're getting and what career you're going into. But with that being said, professional degrees also tend to be the most expensive. They're even more expensive than PhDs. But they do tend to make the most out of all the different types of degrees by far. And another thing is they do tend to be able to be done faster than your average masters or doctorate level degree. So there are a lot of opportunities to take accelerated routes and basically cut corners when you're getting these types of degrees. So for instance, I was able to get my doctorate, my Farm D, in about five years and nine months. Whereas generally speaking, it takes most people around eight years to get it. Now, if you want to find out how I did that, I go over that in great detail in my course, College 101 down in the description below. I also talk about it on other parts and other videos on this channel. So check out my other videos right here. I made them just for you. Go ahead, hit that like button, hit the subscribe button, ring the notification bell and comment down below any thoughts, comments, criticisms, etc. that you have on the video and I will see you next time.