The master’s degree is awarded upon completion of one to two years of advanced graduate study beyond the bachelor’s degree, with the length depending on the field of study and the conferring institution. It recognizes heightened expertise in an academic discipline or professional field of study, gained through intensive course work and, in most cases, the preparation of a culminating project, scholarly paper, thesis, or a comprehensive examination.
The popularity of the master’s degree grew considerably during the last quarter of the twentieth century. Student and employer demand for advanced education and certification within professional fields of study has sparked much of the growth in master’s degree enrollments. These increases in demand have been spurred by broader global shifts toward a technology-driven, information-centered economy in which the need for highly trained, expert professionals in management, finance, information technology, and health care has skyrocketed. In 1997 these professional fields combined for slightly more than three-fourths of all master’s degrees awarded. Since the 1980s, it appears that the master’s degree has, at least for employers outside of academy, taken on a new important role, functioning as an important credential for managing entry into and advancement within the professions. In business, education, engineering, and nursing, the master’s is almost always required for advancement into more financially lucrative specialty and leadership positions.
As the reach of master’s education has expanded, the population of students earning the degree has diversified. The overwhelming majority of master’s degree programs are course-work driven, but the number of required courses or credit hours varies by field of study and type of degree. While approximately 70 percent of master’s degrees no longer require the completion of a thesis, most still include a comprehensive examination, which tests students on foundational knowledge in their field of study.
The growing practitioner orientation that has accompanied the increasing professionalization of the master’s degree has led to several interesting curricular changes in master’s programs. In recent years several accrediting bodies that had traditionally focused largely on undergraduate education have begun to monitor the content and quality of master’s degree programs in various fields, including business, education, and nursing.