Make Sure the Degree Fits Your Goals, Experts Say

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When selecting a nonprofit-management graduate program, prospective students should carefully match the degree and curriculum to their career goals, says James M. Ferris, director of the Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy at the University of Southern California.

"Some people just come in and get a degree and decide what they want to do with it after the fact," he says. "It's not cheap money-wise, and it's really not cheap time-wise."

Nonprofit workers who envision a career in direct service instead of aiming at an executive role might be better off taking an advanced degree in a specific field, like social work, rather than embarking on a more generalized nonprofit management degree, says Laura S. Thrall, president of the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago.

Pat Libby, director of the University of San Diego's Institute for Nonprofit Education and Research, also advises would-be students to test-drive a program they are considering by sitting in on a class, meeting faculty members, and talking to an alumnus or current student about their experiences.

Take a close look at the curriculum, she suggests: "If they look at the course and say, 'Ooooh, I really want to study that, that sounds fascinating,' then that's the right program for them."

And because financial aid is usually less plentiful for graduate students than for undergraduates — and less plentiful for all students these days — finances should factor into any decision about obtaining an advanced degree, but especially for those who are still paying off their bachelor's degree, says Richard Potter, vice president for development and communications at American Humanics, in Kansas City, Mo., a group that prepares undergraduates for careers at youth and social-service charities. He cautions against "going further into debt in the hopes that you can land a job later on."

Mr. Potter says his organization has been encouraging recent graduates to both enhance their résumés and earn tuition aid for a future graduate degree by joining AmeriCorps. The number of slots will be expanding greatly, he notes, due to President Obama's signing last month of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act.

More experienced students who are leery of the cost of a master's program might consider if they would be better off pursuing noncredit, continuing-education courses in specific areas, suggests Chris Nicholson, director of graduate and adult admissions at the School of Business and Nonprofit Management at North Park University, in Chicago.