A survey of postgraduate degree intentions.

1. Executive Summary
How likely are you to someday get a postgraduate degree (e.g., a master's degree, professional
degree, or Ph.D.)? Already have one (15%), Completely likely (9%), Moderately likely (7%).
Are you currently enrolled in a postgraduate degree? No (83%), Yes (17%).
When might you enroll in a postgraduate program? 5 or more years from now (11%), Never
(8%), Within the next 2 years (31%).
Are you currently applying to postgraduate programs? No (89%), Yes (11%).
Are you currently evaluating postgraduate programs? No (59%), Yes (41%).

2. How likely are you to someday get a postgraduate degree (e.g., a master's degree, professional
degree, or Ph.D.)?
Sample Size: 1,000 (All Respondents)

3. How likely are you to someday get a postgraduate degree (e.g., a master's degree, professional
degree, or Ph.D.)?
Including yourself and any children, how many people are currently living in your household?
1 2 3 4 5 6
(%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)
[Not at all + Slightly likely] 63 ⇑ 74 63 ⇓ 41 54 47
Not at all likely 52 ⇑ 65 49 ⇓ 31 39 42
Slightly likely 11 9 13 10 15 5
Moderately likely 6 5 9 6 8 16
Very likely 5 ⇓ 4 7 ⇑ 11 ⇑ 15 21
Completely likely 7 ⇓ 4 7 ⇑ 17 11 0
Already have one 19 14 14 ⇑ 25 11 16
[Completely likely + Already
have one]
26 ⇓ 18 21 ⇑ 42 23 16
Base n=215 n=322 n=187 n=185 n=61 n=19
Sample Size: 1,000 (All Respondents)

4. Are you currently enrolled in a postgraduate degree?
Sample Size: 327 (33% of Respondents)

5. Are you currently enrolled in a postgraduate degree?
Do you have any children 25 or younger living in your
household?
Yes No
(%) (%)
Yes ⇑ 26 ⇓ 7
No ⇓ 74 ⇑ 93
Base n=168 n=159
Sample Size: 327 (33% of Respondents)

6. Why did you choose the college or university you chose for your postgraduate
degree?

7. Why did you choose the college or university you chose for your postgraduate
degree?
Word Frequency Example Quote
Good 26 "It has very good teachers that I familiar with them and its convenient look
near by my house and also has the course that I want to do."
Home 17 "Different from other places I visited, I felt at home and wanted to return to
the school I chose to attend."
Close 14 "The university was relatively close to where I live and could attend part
time at nights to get the degree I was looking for (MBA) and the price per
credit hour was not too outrageous."
Program 13 "I wanted a Top 10 program with accessible and knowledgeable faculty, with
a degree that I knew I would use in my career."
Wanted 13 "It was the same university my husband was going to and we wanted to
move to pursue higher education together. This school offered both of our
majors."
Convenient 10 "It was in town here and I was working so it was convenient and it had a
good reputation."
School 10 "It had a great reputation in my desired field of study and was different from
my undergraduate school."
Best 10 "The best learning house in the region, very satisfied I feel to have been part
of these schools / university."
Location 10 "Because of the location and the fact that it offered the degree that I was
pursuing."
Reputation 9 "Cost, Location. friends that go there, reputation."

8. When might you enroll in a postgraduate program?
Sample Size: 272 (27% of Respondents)

9. When might you enroll in a postgraduate program?
Which of the following best describes your marital status?
Married Single, never
married
Living with a
partner
Divorced Widowed Separated
(%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)
[Within the next year + Within
the next 2 years]
51 53 58 56 33 100
Within the next year ⇑ 27 ⇓ 14 21 0 0 0
Within the next 2 years ⇓ 24 39 37 56 33 100
Within the next 3 years 18 18 16 22 33 0
Within the next 4 years 6 13 11 11 0 0
5 or more years from now 15 12 11 11 17 0
Never 10 5 5 0 17 0
[5 or more years from now +
Never]
25 17 16 11 33 0
Base n=118 n=118 n=19 n=9 n=6 n=2
Sample Size: 272 (27% of Respondents)

10. Are you currently applying to postgraduate programs?
Sample Size: 252 (25% of Respondents)

11. Are you currently evaluating postgraduate programs?
Sample Size: 252 (25% of Respondents)

12. Why are you thinking about a postgraduate program?

13. Why are you thinking about a postgraduate program?
Word Frequency Example Quote
Education 34 "I’m thinking of a postgraduate program to elevate my education and
hopefully increase my salary."
Career 28 "As a means to an end with the ideal being a more gratifying and better
paying career."
Better 17 "I would like to have higher pay and better benefits, if possible, without
having to pay too much in order to attend a post-graduate program, and
taking too much time away from my family."
Money 15 "I've been thinking about changing my job to be something like a social
worker and in order to make any money doing that you have to have a
masters."
Learn 14 "To advance my career and learn about topics of interest."
Further my education 13 "To further my education. And to increase my knowledge."
Degree 10 "In the world of art, a postgraduate degree is the best option. It creates the
best resume, and sets one above others in a job application scenario."
Better job 9 "It would be helpful in securing a better job."
Like 8 "Now that my kids are in school I would like to go back to work and it would
help me get a good paying job."
Pay 8 "To get a higher position in my company with higher pay or to start my own
business."

14. What are you looking for specifically in a college or university to take a postgraduate
program?

15. What are you looking for specifically in a college or university to take a postgraduate
program?
Word Frequency Example Quote
Online 21 "Online only, lowest cost per credit, school that takes and applies both
undergraduate courses and work experience to course study."
Good 14 "Nothing in specifivc flexablity afforadality good program on bussiness and
computers."
Flexible 13 "One that is flexible with online classes & provides an education I can
actually apply to a field of work."
Affordable 12 "Affordable tuition, TA options, which schools people in my field
recommend."
School 11 "I look for openness. schools should allow students more creativity with
their education. School of any kind is not the most motivational of all
places."
Cost 10 "I am looking for a program that allows me to get lots of hands on
experience, but does not cost a lot."
Sure 9 "Im not sure yet."
Classes 9 "Local, inexpensive, and has classes that I want to take."
Work 7 "Flexible schedule, online component, accepts work experience for credit if
possible."
Job 7 "Time flexibility, as I need to focus on my job (so I don't lose my job), as well
as taking care of my family. It's more important than just getting the post-
graduate degree."

16. What would you study?

17. What would you study?
Word Frequency Example Quote
Business 39 "Business Administration as I have an undergraduate degree in Accounting."
Education 13 "Theater Education."
Nursing 10 "Psychology and/or nursing."
Accounting 10 "Business or accounting."
Arts 9 "I would study media arts. Art of any kind is an interest and passion of mine.
molding that into something that I can make a living off of would be great."
Social Work 7 "Social work or advertising."
Science 6 "Political Science and Psychology."
Law 6 "Criminal Justice and law."
Know 6 "I don't know yet."
Management 5 "Business-health care management."

18. Response Information
This online survey had 1,000 respondents. It was fielded from February 6 to 7, 2019.
The results presented in this report were weighted to be representative of the overall
population by the following variables:
• What is your gender?
• Which of the following groups describes your current age?
• Are you of Hispanic, Spanish or Latino descent?
• Which of the following best describes your ethnicity?
• What is the highest degree or level of school you have completed?
• Region

19. Crosstab Methodology
Crosstab Table Notes:
• Rather than compare subgroups to other subgroups individually, we compare each
subgroup to the aggregate of all other subgroups.
• This is easier to present and visualize than column comparisons and
differentiates at the low end as well as the high end.
• Since this approach uses the entire sample, rather than a subsample
consisting of two subgroups, it provides greater statistical power and reduces
the chance that differences are false discoveries.
• A statistically significant difference is one that cannot be attributed to chance at a
95% confidence level: 19 times out of 20 the differences would exist in the target
population.
• If the difference is higher at a statistically significant level, the cell is marked
with the up-arrow symbol ⇑. If it is lower, the down-arrow symbol ⇓ is used.
• Columns with fewer than 30 responses (i.e. degrees of freedom) are ignored
for statistical significance comparisons.
• Crosstabs show only unweighted results.
• To fit onto a single slide, some crosstabs have had columns without differences
omitted. See the spreadsheet for the full crosstabs.

20. Researchscape International
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