people who have multiple degrees

[TINASAM]

I'm currently in the middle of some graduate credits / degrees, but at the end of this mess I will have two associate degrees, a bachelor's, three master degrees, and a Ph.D. The master degrees let me do lower level college teaching remotely as an adjunct and I have zero need for tenure track or anything other than adjunct work. The Ph.D. will allow me to do upper level teaching and help lend some better credibly to me teaching than with just my masters', as well as give me a boost if I ever want to do in-person teaching locally (which I do not think my health would allow, but it'd give me the opportunity).

This is my plan but I was looking at doing a bunch of graduate certificates if I can find more that have at least 18 credit hours. Otherwise I'd have to do 2 similar ones or another degree to qualify to be an adjunct.

Did you pay out of pocket? I'm assuming most of these people just took out grad loans. There's tons of stories of people with 500k+ in debt that's just forgiven after PSLF or 20 years all over the internet.

The two associate degrees were nearly free (one is Pierpont and the other I got with transfer credits while getting my bachelor degree). The bachelor degree was free during COVID when the free bachelor degree thing was still available from Franklin University with the Union plan. My Master degree is about $11k or so. The Ph.D. is going to be around $27k? I believe. I'm getting a student loan for the master and the phd. The other two masters degrees will be $900 because one is the Elmwood $900 thing and the other is free at where I'm teaching (they allow teachers to take a free class each term to get another degree).

[xspect]

I think there is a large disconnect on this board for what a PhD is and isn't. This isn't the same thing as going to a part time evening or online masters program nor is it the same thing as someone rushing through a UMPI degree in 8 weeks. For sure you should work and do these types of degrees on the side. A PhD is a different animal.

A PhD is more than a different animal; it's a beast. It is the most soul-sucking experience one can ever have. It minumim returns on several fronts. Take this with a gain of salt from me.

[Duneranger]

I think there is a large disconnect on this board for what a PhD is and isn't. This isn't the same thing as going to a part time evening or online masters program nor is it the same thing as someone rushing through a UMPI degree in 8 weeks. For sure you should work and do these types of degrees on the side. A PhD is a different animal.

A PhD is more than a different animal; it's a beast. It is the most soul-sucking experience one can ever have. It minumim returns on several fronts. Take this with a gain of salt from me.

I agree, I feel like many people here don't understand this. Many think it is some advanced UMPI MAOL degree (or other CBE degree) you can ACE-credit your way through.

In most fields, it has next to ZERO ROI, but I feel like there is borderline complex on here about adding random letters or degrees on here from places that 99% of people have no idea exist.

[NotJoeBiden]

A doctorate is a requirement for some types of jobs. Believe it or not, people do sometimes pursue things that interest them over jobs that might pay more.

[ss20ts]

A doctorate is a requirement for some types of jobs. Believe it or not, people do sometimes pursue things that interest them over jobs that might pay more.

And sometimes it's for personal achievement.

[bjcheung77]

Essentially, if you have the means to pay for the education or have tuition assistance/reimbursement, I don't see there being a downside to going after a personal goal, it could be a professional title or something else you're going for. Having an end goal for your educational journey in mind is great, going for it is better, achieving that is a dream for most...