10 things grad schools won’t tell you. The lowdown on higher degrees

By Jonnelle Marte. 1. “Expect empty seats.”
Many people sought shelter from the recession by heading to graduate school, but enrollment has declined as the economy has improved. The number of first-time masters’ and doctoral students starting classes on campuses around the country dropped 1.7% in the fall of 2011 from the year before, according to the most recent data from the Council of Graduate Schools, a national organization that advocates for graduate programs. (Applications to law school and full-time two-year M.B.A. programs, not included in the council’s data, are also declining. Medical school applications rose slightly last year.)
It was the second consecutive drop in first-time enrollment, following a stretch of annual increases going back to the fall of 2003.While people with advanced degrees generally earn more than the average American, and are less likely to be unemployed, more people are now skeptical about whether those advantages are worth the upfront costs — and the growing debt burden. In 2010, enrollment dropped more significantly at public universities, but that shifted in 2011, when private not-for-profit universities saw the largest declines. When it comes to majors, the biggest drops in 2011 were in education, arts and humanities. Enrollment still grew in health sciences, math and computer science, according to the report. Read more...