Spring Break
Recession environment mirrors growing graduate school trend
Justyna Tomtas
Issue date: 3/23/09 Section: News
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Enrollment in graduate school nationwide has grown at a consistent 3 percent average annually, while part-time enrollment has increased by a solid 1 percent, the Council of Graduate School recently reported.
"Lots of people are going to look into graduate school in a recession environment," said Peter Dorhout, vice provost for CSU's graduate school program. "They're going to ask 'How can I improve myself and get one step ahead of my competition?'"
Robert Kling, coordinator of graduate studies in the Economics department, said that during recessions, a pattern of increased graduate school applications becomes clear, as job options are "not so good."
"At CSU it happened during the 1990 to '91 recession and again during the 2001 recession," Kling said.
Enrollment numbers totaled 3,452 in the 1999 to 2000 school year, but topped off near 600 more students by 2003. In later years, the number would even out to about 3,600 to 3,700 students per year.
Dorhout and Kling said they anticipate the numbers will continue to rise for the 2009 to 2010 school year.
However, because of the active recruiting programs the graduate program maintains, Dorhout acknowledged that it's hard to credit the current increases in enrollment entirely to the recession.
But one thing is true, Kling said. As enrollment continues to increase, the competitiveness also increases.
"Since the recession induces thousands more people to apply to grad school, grad programs will be getting more applicants and better applicants than usual," he said, explaining that an average student's chances of getting into his or her preferred school or obtaining funding on research or teaching assistantships are lower than normal.
According to Kling, the benefits of a graduate education will extend over many decades, regardless of whether the nation falls into an economic down spiral again. However, he said the "opportunity costs" of going to graduate school drop in times of a hurting market outlook.
"In a good economy, going to grad school likely involves sacrificing a good job with good pay. In a recession, you might not get a job at all or not one that pays well, so your sacrifice from continuing in or going back to school is lower. If that cost is lower but the benefits are still high, more people will choose grad school as a sensible option," he said.
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