Annual event provided tips for pursuing
advance degrees
MURFREESBORO
— A pre-nursing major minoring in Spanish, MTSU junior Brianne Knight
of Selmer, Tennessee, was among dozens of visitors Tuesday who stopped by the
MTSU Grad Fair to collect information about taking their undergraduate degree
to the next level.
Students, staff, alumni and
members of the local community were invited to the annual event, held this year
in the second floor ballroom of the Student Union. Hosted by the College of
Graduate Studies, the free event allowed faculty and staff from across the
university to discuss opportunities to pursue an advanced degree — online or on
campus — and boost careers.
Knight said obtaining an
advanced degree will likely give her “a leg up” once she enters the job market.
By attending Tuesday’s Grad Fair, she was able to connect with advisers within
her major and gain a better idea of the steps she needs to take to attend
graduate school and obtain a master’s degree.
“I learned that there are
plenty of opportunities out there that students don’t know about, but that they
need to know about,” said Knight, who wants to use her health care and
multilingual talents as a traveling nurse throughout the world. “I got
connections today … It was very helpful.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics
estimates that by the year 2018, one in every seven new jobs will require a
graduate degree. And U.S. Census figures show that adults with advanced degrees
earn an average of 44 percent more than those with undergraduate degrees.
MTSU offers 100 graduate
programs in the arts, humanities, sciences, education and business, including
the Accelerated Bachelor’s-to-Master’s program, which allows eligible
undergraduates in certain disciplines to earn both degrees in five years.
Dr. Jackie Eller, interim vice
provost for research and dean of the College of Graduate Studies, said the
interdisciplinary programs within MTSU’s graduate studies, such as the Master
of Professional Science program with six concentrations, and the Master of
Science in Management with three concentrations, “are just what many employers
are seeking for their staff members’ professional development.”
The master’s in professional science,
for example, combines business management skills commonly found in traditional
MBA programs with advanced learning in specific science concentrations.
“These programs are enjoying
robust enrollment,” Eller said. “Many of our graduate programs enjoy a national
reputation in disciplines as diverse as public history, molecular biosciences,
and recording arts and technologies.”
The university recently added a
human resources leadership concentration in the Master of Professional Studies.
That program now offers three concentrations: strategic leadership, training
and development, and now, human resources leadership, which is designed for
working adults and offers the flexibility of both on campus and online studies.
Knight convinced her friend Danyel
Woody, a junior exercise science major from Memphis, Tennessee, to join her at
the Grad Fair. Woody, who is minoring in coaching, was glad she decided to come
along.
“I didn’t know I could venture
out (and study) other things,” she said, such as studying health in the College
of Basic and Applied Sciences. “I do want to go to grad school. … If you have a
master’s, it looks better than someone with just a bachelor’s degree.”
For more information
about MTSU’s graduate programs, call the College of Graduate Studies at 615-898-2840
or visit www.mtsu.edu/gradschool.
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