The graduate programs at Ohio State with the highest enrollment are arts and sciences, engineering, nursing, education and human ecology, and social work. Credit: Amal Saeed | Lantern File Photo

Economic recovery from the pandemic has begun, and graduate students have more employment prospects than they may have a year ago.  

While people with graduate degrees earn more on average than those with lower-level degrees according to Social Security, end salary depends on the industry, among other factors, Scott Kustis, director of industry connections with the Arts and Sciences Center for Career and Professional Success, said in an email.

“Meet with a career coach; get a mentor; explore as many professional development opportunities as possible while in school; develop a professional network; join student chapters of professional industry groups,” Kustis said in an email.

The graduate programs at Ohio State with the highest enrollment are arts and sciences, engineering, nursing, education and human ecology, and social work, according to Ohio State’s analysis and reporting website. 

Arts and Sciences

Ranked No. 1 in graduate student enrollment, arts and sciences graduate programs include master’s and Ph.D. programs in areas of study such as psychology, chemistry and political science. As of the autumn 2021 semester, there are around 2,300 graduate students enrolled in arts and sciences programs, only a handful fewer than autumn 2020, according to Ohio State’s latest enrollment report.

While there are many fields within the college, overall, they did not suffer the same drops in enrollment as bachelor’s and community college programs did due to the pandemic, Brad Hershbein, senior economist and communications adviser at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, said.

“People who are going into graduate programs generally are a little bit further ahead in life,” Hershbein said. “They tend to be a little bit higher income and otherwise somewhat protected against a lot of the forces that were reducing enrollment.”

Graduates with a master’s in psychology typically earn about $53,000 annually five years after graduation, while graduates with a master’s in physical sciences make about $59,000 and graduates with master’s degrees in communication, journalism or a related field average about $68,000 per year.

When compared to the average annual earnings of graduates with only a bachelor’s degree in these fields, graduates with master’s degrees earn, on average, $15,000 more per year.

Engineering

With the second-highest enrollment, the graduate program currently has 1,700 engineering graduate students at Ohio State.  

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, while engineering students with a bachelor’s degree can expect to earn around $75,000 five years after graduation, graduates with a master’s in engineering earn almost $88,000 per year.

Hershbein said degrees that were in demand before the pandemic will probably still be needed going forward, so engineering students will likely find it relatively easy to get a job.

Nursing

Enrolling 1,067 students, the third-largest graduate program this semester is nursing.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, health professionals with a graduate degree make on average almost $20,000 more per year than those with only a bachelor’s.

Graduate students in health care fields have another advantage as the demand for people trained in health care fields is high, Hershbein said.

According to projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, five of the 20 fastest-growing industries from 2019 to 2029 will be in the health care and social assistance sectors.

Education and Human Ecology

The education and human ecology graduate program enrolled 1,024 students this semester, and on average, graduates with a master’s in education make around $10,000 more than their peers with only bachelor’s degrees, according to the analysis and reporting website.

The education market is expected to grow at a rate of almost 4 percent annually until 2025, according to a report from Research and Markets. Demand for skilled labor in education is increasing, as well, particularly in K-12 education.

Social Work

The fifth-most popular graduate program at Ohio State is social work, with 1,013 students enrolled. Enrollment in social work also had one of the highest growth rates between autumn 2020 and autumn 2021 semesters at around 14 percent, according to the analysis and reporting website.  

While the earnings gap between a bachelor’s and a master’s in social service professions is smaller than the others at around $8,500, Hershbein said these professions were in high demand before the pandemic.

“A lot of those jobs got lost during the pandemic because a lot of it takes place in person,” Hershbein said. “There’s just not a lot of funds that were distributed because of a lot of cutbacks.”

The demand for these professions should bounce back once funding is reestablished, Hershbein said.