Perhaps this is rude....

[sanantone]

So how about guys like me, who work dead end, slightly higher than minimum wage jobs? Will a degree from TESU (In progress) open a great amount of opportunities for me, without having prior experience or X amount of time at a company?

I was stuck in the low-paying security field. Even as a security supervisor, my pay was low, and hardly any women are promoted to management positions at security companies. The unemployment rate was still kind of high when I graduated from TESU. While I didn't immediately land a job that required a degree, I did land a higher-paying job that substituted the experience requirement with my college credits.

After finishing my masters, I landed a part-time teaching job that paid $5 more per hour than the security job I had. I was offered a full-time position as the chair of the criminal justice program, but couldn't take it because I was attending an on-campus doctoral program. When I worked as a substance abuse counselor intern, I was paid a few thousand more dollars per year than the other interns due to my additional education.

Currently, I have a government job that requires a bachelor's degree. I make almost $12,000 more per year than I did in security. By next year, with the automatic pay raises, I will make almost $20,000 more per year than I did in security. There are rarely raises in security. If the company has a 5-year contract, then the pay will likely stay the same for five years. Plus, the benefits at security companies are awful. At the government agency I work for, I pay no health insurance premium, the retirement plan is decent, and I can receive up to $5,000 per year in tuition reimbursement.