Pay back for a part time degree

Hi Mr. Tan,

I am 25 years old. I graduated from a local polytechnic 5 years ago. I am now considering to take a part time business degree. For the time, effort and money that I will be putting in, is it worth it?

REPLY:

I am not familiar with this matter. I can only give you two conflicting views.

1. My friend, who did some research of many part time degrees, told me that many Singaporeans pursue these part time degrees (including business MBA) at great expense. On completion, they are not able to earn a higher salary that justify their investment.

2. There was a report that for each year of education, the salary increases by a significant percentage (maybe 10% or more). This suggests that the education effort has a payback.

I guess that the answer depends on the quality of the university education. If it is from a good university, you may have its payback. If not, you will probably not get the payback.

I suggest that you talk to a few friends or other people who have taken the same route before. They may be able to give you some useful views as well.

You can look at this website to check the quality of the degree that you intend to pursue.

All the best in your decision.