
Academic vs. Professional Degrees
Academic degrees (MA, MS, PhD) involve acquiring and communicating new knowledge through original research. These degrees are awarded in virtually all disciplines of the liberal arts (e.g., arts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences).
Professional degrees stress the practical application of knowledge and skills and may be acquired in areas such as business (MBA), law (JD), medicine (MD), and education (MEd). Other fields offering professional degrees include the fine arts (MFA), library science (MLS), public policy (MPP), social work (MSW), nursing (DPN), and many more.
Is graduate school right for me?
Graduate school is a significant investment of time, money, and hard work. Before making a decision to attend, think carefully about three basic questions:
- Is a graduate degree necessary to achieve my personal and professional goals?
- Am I a competitive candidate — at this time — for graduate school?
- Is now or later a better time for me to attend?
How do I choose a graduate school?
If you have decided to apply to graduate school, St. Olaf faculty members can support you in finding schools that will suit your goals and aspirations. Piper Center coaches can also help you reflect on the schools to which you may want to apply.
Online Graduate Education:
COVID-19 reframed the landscape for online education in the United States and internationally, as many institutions now offer online education as a primary mode of delivery.
If you are deciding whether to attend graduate school online, you will need to keep the following three factors in mind:
- Is the program regionally accredited?
- Does the program have a traditional campus where students attend in person?
- Does the program have a reputable academic brand?
In other words, it is not how you earn an online degree but where you earn the degree. If you attend a regionally accredited program at an institution that has a traditional campus and a reputable academic brand, employers will likely view the degree as being equal to one earned in person. Employers continue to be concerned about for-profit institutions that offer online learning; many have been criticized as “diploma mills” that have questionable recruiting practices, low rates of completion, and degrees of questionable value.
The pros for attending graduate school online are flexibility and applicability: you can attend from any location, you can fit your coursework into a busy schedule, and you can begin to apply what you are learning immediately to your employment (assuming that you are not making a career change). The cons are a lack of in-person communication with faculty and fewer opportunities to network with your classmates. You must also be very disciplined and well-organized.
For a good discussion of online graduate education, take a look at this article.
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I would like to attend graduate school outside the U.S.
If you are interested in attending graduate school outside the United States, the process for applying will be similar to that for applying to schools in the United States, with the following exceptions:
U.S. citizens and permanent residents, as well as international students who are applying to a school in a country that is not their home, will need to do research about the kinds of visas available for international students and will need to be able to demonstrate that they have the financial resources to cover their living expenses as well as tuition. The difficulty of applying for a visa may indicate how welcoming a country is toward international students.
Researching potential locations, understanding the political, social and cultural climate, and confirming the language skills needed to be successful are a critical part of the process. In addition, conducting thorough research about the likely costs of study — uncovering so-called “hidden” costs — will enable you to assess whether a course of study is affordable. This is especially the case for certain public universities in European countries like France, Germany, and Norway that either do not charge for tuition or charge only a minimal amount.
Useful checklist of points to consider when applying to graduate school outside of the U.S.
For U.S. citizens and permanent residents, aid from the U.S. government may be available to support education outside of the U.S.
Graduate School Guides and Databases
Other important ways to evaluate programs


Applying to graduate school
Applying to graduate school takes time, a significant amount of time. The best advice is to start early and to follow the steps below, which outline the process that students typically follow when applying to graduate school.
You may also want to take a look at the following article, “Kisses of Death in the Graduate School Application Process,” which surveyed admissions committees for graduate degrees in psychology and summarizes the characteristics on applications that decrease an applicant’s chance of being accepted to a program in psychology. The advice applies well beyond degrees in psychology, and we recommend that you take the time to reflect on the perspective offered by the admissions committees surveyed.
Application requirements

Once you’ve decided to go to graduate school, you will most likely need to complete the following components for your application.
Funding your graduate study
Attending graduate school in the United States can be expensive, and as you think about applying, you will need to consider how you will fund your graduate education. Read more about graduate study outside of the U.S. here.
Applying early (as institutions often dispense financial aid on a first-admitted, first-served basis) and undertaking intensive research on sources of funding are critical steps that you will need to take to give yourself the best possible chance of securing funding.
Learn more about sources of funding, which include grants & fellowships.
Applying to grad school as an international student

Applying to grad school as a student from an underrepresented group
The Council of Graduate Studies 2024 report on Graduate Enrollment and Degrees from 2013 to 2023 states that “27.9% of all first-time U.S. citizens and permanent resident enrollees were racially/ethnically underrepresented minority (URM) students, including those who were American Indian/Alaska Native (0.5%), Black/African American (12.3%), Native Hawaiian/ Other Pacific Islander (0.2%), and Latinx (14.9%). The majority of first-time U.S. citizens and permanent resident enrollees are White (54.8%) while smaller proportions are either Asian (9.1%), race/ethnicity unknown (4.3%), or two or more races (3.9%). . . . Only one category of underrepresented minority students experienced declines in first-time enrollment between Fall 2022 and Fall 2023; first-time graduate enrollment decreased by 1.6% among American Indian/Alaska Native students. Meanwhile, Black/African American students increased by 6.3% and Latinx students increased by 7.6%.” The Council of Graduate Studies 2024 Report
All groups are underrepresented in graduate school compared to the national demographics for these groups: American Indian/Alaska Native (1.1%), Black/African American (12.1%), and Hispanic/Latino (18.7%).
These groups are particularly underrepresented in STEM fields.
If you are a student from an underrepresented group, you may wish to look at an article in U.S. News and World Report, “Advice for Minority Students Considering Med School,” which describes the challenges these students face — challenges present in all graduate and professional school programs — and steps you can take to help you achieve success.
You will note that finding a mentor is the most important step that you can take to achieve your goals in graduate school. Thus, when considering graduate schools, you will need to find out from the Admissions staff, from faculty, and from current students if the kinds of mentors who will enable you to flourish are present and if the environment is one that supports students from underrepresented groups. Doing your research about the faculty, studying their publications, and finding out about their students are critical steps to help you determine whether you will receive the support you need.
You may want to research whether the institutions that you are considering have an Inclusion and Belonging Officer or a similar role, someone whose role is to increase the presence of students from underrepresented groups in graduate programs and to support them in achieving success.
You can also ask the Admissions staff for data about admissions and completion rates by demographic group, which will enable you to compare rates of success. Undertaking research about the racial climate on campus will also give you a sense of how the institution is responding to recent events in the U.S.
Leslie Moore (no pronouns)
Associate Director, Career Development and Coaching, Pre-Law, Graduate and Professional School
Office Hours: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Schedule via Handshake Appointments
View Profile →Dana L Rechtzigel (she, her, hers)
Associate Director, Career Development and Coaching, Pre-Health
Office Hours: M-F by Appointment in Handshake; Drop In's: Mondays 3-5pm Make An Appointment
View Profile →Paul Edwards (he, him, his)
Associate Director of Career Development and Coaching, STEM
Kirsten Cahoon (she, her, hers)
Director of Piper Center