But perhaps the greatest area of debate when it comes to the benefits of a master's degree centres on how much extra money the qualification will add to a candidates salary?
Evidence from the US Census Bureau indicates what every master's applicant, current student or recent graduate has hoped for: there is a significant difference in earning potential between those candidates with a bachelor's degree and those with a master's degree.
With more and more employers using educational qualifications as an important screening measure in the selection process for jobs, the relationship between advanced university education and salary has become more prominent.
In US terms alone, a graduate with a master's degree earns around US$10,000 per year more than a person with only a bachelor's qualification. This difference is compounded over the course of a lifetime, with the potential to secure steeper pay increases and other financial rewards similarly emphasized so that at the point of retirement, a master's graduate will potentially have earned US$400,000 more than a bachelor's graduate and a staggering US$1.5 million more than a person with only a high school leaving qualification.
Whatever your motivations for studying a master's degree, the evidence is there for all to see: graduating with the qualification will make a difference to the rest of your life, whether you choose to measure it in financial terms, career benefits or your own personal development.
With more and more international students exploring the opportunities around grad school can you afford not to make the next step? And of course, there can be some additional surprises. take Hilary Jones and Kushan Naik, both master's students at the UK's University of Warwick in 1974. Next year will see them celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary.