The economic crisis has forced deep cuts in spending at Duke and prompted administrators to consider new ways to raise revenue.
One money-making mechanism that has come into vogue in the last two years is the creation of master’s programs.
In the Pratt School of Engineering alone, the number of master’s students may double to about 600 in the next five years, thanks to a new master’s program.
The program, a Masters of Engineering, is one of four that have thus far been approved. Another four programs will be voted on—and likely approved—at an Academic Council meeting in May. In all, the new degrees—ranging from a Master of Arts in Christian Practices to a Master of Science in Biostatistics—stand to add about 600 graduate students and upwards of $20 million a year in revenue to the University, according to the program proposals.
“It would be wrong to think that this growth of master’s programs is just a function of trying to find new sources of revenues,” Provost Peter Lange said. “The downturn in the economy gave that added push. It’s not like someone said, ‘Oh God, we need money.’”
Lange, the University’s chief academic officer, said many of the new programs were being considered before the downturn. But financial considerations pushed school leaders to act and helped get faculty on board with the programs.
The new programs offer educational benefits to students and a financial opportunity to the University, administrators said. But questions have emerged about oversight, and whether the new programs will drain Duke’s resources or change its culture.
Mastering the Master’s
Master’s degrees have become much more common nationally over the past five years, Lange said. As the number of individuals with bachelor’s degrees increases, students are looking for new ways to stand out.
Add to that the tough economic climate and stiff global competition, and many people having difficulty finding work are turning to master’s programs.
“The race of life for jobs and employment and stuff like that has now become internationalized and so people are looking for every advantage—education gives them some kind of a hook,” said Stephen Trachtenberg, president emeritus of The George Washington University and an expert on higher education. “It’s a variation on double majors. Everybody is searching for product enhancement because they feel a little nervous.”
The rapid addition of master’s programs to the University has led to concerns among some professors and administrators about the processes for creating and evaluating new degrees.
“The key is to make sure we’re all aware that this growth is taking place and we need to prepare for a lot of issues that are more complicated than admitting students and then educating them,” said Academic Council Chair Craig Henriquez, a professor of biomedical engineering.
To account for these issues, ranging from oversight and quality control to revenue sharing among schools, Lange created an ad hoc committee on master’s programs. The committee was chaired by Jo Rae Wright, vice provost and dean of the graduate school, and its report was delivered at an Academic Council Meeting Thursday.
“The bottom line, I think, from my perspective is that the goal is to have the highest quality degree coming out of Duke for all of our degrees,” Wright said in an interview. “Both the review process and the vetting process have that goal in mind.”
The report recommends the creation of a Master’s Advisory Council to advise schools looking to start new programs and to help evaluate existing ones.
Because master’s students generate revenue and do not require housing, the report notes that there are few natural constraints on the growth of the programs. Still, it is necessary to be aware of their incidental effects on the University.
“It will be important to monitor growth in these programs and to be attentive to the impact of increased program size on the University’s resources, culture and the character of the institution,” the report states.
The council would also help facilitate interdisciplinary programs and serve as a liaison with student services to ensure graduate students’ needs are met.
“You have to worry about people getting meals and access to food given the schedules, and one of the biggest things you have to worry about at Duke University is parking,” said Bill Boulding, deputy dean of the Fuqua School of Business. Fuqua created a one-year Master of Management Studies degree last year and a Master of Management in Clinical Informatics program this year.
Stretching resources
Faculty workload is another concern that some of the new programs are working to address. Most of the proposals call for master’s students to take existing courses or for new courses to be taught by current professors, rather than for new professors to be hired.
The proposal for a Master of Fine Arts in Experimental and Documentary Arts indicates that no new professors will be hired, while the Master of Engineering proposal notes that there is room for about 125 more students in current graduate-level courses.
“The electives and department and cross-department classes are initially expected to be chosen from courses that already exist,” the Master of Engineering proposal states. “Additional faculty will be added as needed and as justified by revenues.”
Jeff Glass, Pratt senior associate dean for education, said individual departments will manage enrollment so that their courses do not get too big. Biomedical engineering, for instance, is unlikely to add master’s students because its courses tend to be full.
Other considerations for programs include advising and career counseling as well as providing English as a second language instruction for international students. Glass said the costs for those services are incorporated into the Master of Engineering proposal.
“Those are critical... I would say if we see that they are anything but excellent, we have to be as responsive to changes there as we are on the academic side,” he said.
The Master’s Advisory Council will ensure that every new professional master’s program proposal addresses these financial and administrative issues by developing a template and check list for future proposals, according to Wright’s report.
Master of the job hunt
Wright’s report also discusses how master’s programs may interact with other forms of graduate and undergraduate education. But it does not address competition for jobs between master’s students and undergraduates or advanced graduate students.
Instead, the issue has been raised by individual schools and programs.
Glass said competition for jobs between Master of Engineering students and undergraduates in Pratt could occur if the program grows too large. But he said that because the program’s growth will be controlled, the additional engineers will create more opportunity for Pratt graduates at all levels by drawing more recruiters to Duke.
Many of the new degree programs are career-focused, and several outside higher education experts said students should be aware of their employment prospects and the possibility of going into debt before entering a master’s program.
“If the job market is crappy, do I go to work at Wendy’s... or do I got out and get my master’s degree?” said Richard Vedder, director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity and an economics professor at Ohio University.
He added that the trend toward more graduate education is evidence that society is too focused on credentials.
But Trachtenberg, the higher education expert, said the decision of whether or not to pursue a master’s degree is often intensely personal, and has as much to do with intellectual exploration as with economic considerations.
He added that a person with a liberal arts education and a professional master’s degree is often attractive to employers. He compared such an individual’s blend of competencies to a well-made cocktail.
“Gin by itself, as delicious as it may be, is not a martini,” he said. “If you want to do a martini, you’ve got to put a little vermouth in it. There’s an elegance to drinking martinis.”
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