Is everyone admitted to the master's program for a fee? Master's studies

Companies like Apple, Google, IBM, and Bank of America, for example, don't look at a master's degree when hiring. Will a master's degree help you get a good job in Russia?

A master's degree - a meaningless “crust” or a career springboard? The American online job search service Glassdoor has compiled a list of 15 American corporations that do not require applicants to have a diploma. True, we are only talking about some vacancies, and in the USA. Companies include Apple, Google, IBM and Bank of America.

In large Russian companies, young applicants are first required to have a bachelor's degree.

Why then do young people go to master's programs and do employers look at master's degrees? Senior Advisers analyst Aidar Zaripov completed his master's degree at the Graduate School of Management of St. Petersburg State University. As an undergraduate, Aidar studied at the same faculty in the International Management program. In the master's program I studied financial management:

— I took the GMAT test, English, there was an interview with teachers, with people from the corporate sphere. Now my career is closely related to finance, and the training in general has helped me: I often have to apply this knowledge in the process.

— Did this “crust” help you directly?

- My opinion is that she is useless. Many of my classmates built their careers immediately after their undergraduate studies.

For some, this is a chance to gain knowledge in a new field; for others, it is an opportunity to delay the start of “adult” life: study for a master’s degree for two more years. For those wishing to become a teacher, this is a stepping stone to graduate school. Guys enroll in order not to go into the army if the faculty gives a deferment.

The competition for a master's degree is steeper than for a bachelor's degree. There are several times fewer budget places. For Alexey, a project engineer at an enterprise that supplies equipment for the nuclear industry, a master’s degree from an energy institute played a role: — In my specialty, referents often point out that it is necessary technical university

, master's degree. When two applicants come: one has a specialist degree, and the other has a master’s degree, then more qualified personnel are hired for this position.

— If we take, for example, design institutes, employees who have received a master’s degree are considered primarily for some higher position. The presence of highly educated personnel affects the prestige of the company and allows it to obtain additional accreditations.

Having a master's degree is not always reflected in your salary. This is offensive to those who studied in a master's program for a fee. At Moscow State University, for example, this is an average of almost 700 thousand rubles over two years. With the average salary of a beginning worker being 40-50 thousand rubles, education will not pay off soon, except perhaps when working abroad. Russian bachelor's and master's degrees are valued in some European countries.

Judging by the information on the websites of large international companies, they only hire people with a master's degree for some positions. But this is not the case everywhere, says Alexander Muranov, managing partner of the Muranov, Chernyakov and Partners bar association:

Alexander MuranovManaging Partner of the Bar Association "Muranov, Chernyakov and Partners"“There are people with a bachelor’s degree who can work quite normally. Now I’m talking specifically about the work of a lawyer. By the way, in our company there are and have been people only with a bachelor's degree. We are a practicing company, there is no point in introducing any formal criteria. He may be a doctor of science, but he’s also an absolute idiot.”

A master's degree is a guarantee of a person's level of knowledge. But big role the so-called “soft skills” still play in their careers, continues Head of HR Department, Novartis Oncology Division Lyubov Molodtsova:

— Communication, teamwork, negotiation skills, time management. Here, unfortunately, in the modern education system, not much time is allocated to the study of such skills.

— If we talk specifically about a master’s degree: are there positions where they won’t be hired without such a diploma?

— For a number of positions, a bachelor’s degree is sufficient. If we are talking about narrowly focused positions, be it medical advisers, then, of course, here we look to have a master’s degree.

This summer I entered the master's program"Media Management" in High school economy. The competition is almost four people per place. I don’t know what it is about diplomas, but communication with the faculty will definitely be useful.

Step 1 - Selecting a program and form of training

1. Make sure that your level of education allows you to study in a master's program, that is, you have a bachelor's, specialist or master's degree.

If you have a diploma issued foreign state, you must go through the nostrification procedure.

2. Check out the list of master's programs.

Please note that master's programs are offered in three areas: Finance and Credit, Economics and Management, as well as in two forms of study - full-time (2 years of study) and part-time (2.5 years of study). By full-time There are programs in which training is conducted entirely in English language.

3. Determine under what conditions you want to receive an education:

For full-time study, all programs have budget and outside budget places, in English-language programs, students in budget places pay for an additional educational service - training in English. In full-time studies, bachelor's degree applicants are granted a deferment from military service, subject to admission in the year of graduation of the bachelor's degree.

By part-time There are no budget-funded places for training and no deferment from military service is provided.

4. If the form of training you choose requires payment, make sure you know the cost of training and the payment procedure.

5. Make sure that documents are being accepted for training in the form you have chosen.

Step 2 - Preparing for admission

6. Depending on the chosen form of study and the intended master's program, determine what kind of entrance testing you will have to do. Tests differ in areas (Finance and Credit, Economics and Management) and in forms of training:

Full-time study

for budget places - a comprehensive test of 4 disciplines;

for extra-budgetary places - test for economic theory or management theory.

For part-time and part-time education - a test in economic theory or management theory.

7. For graduates of non-core specialties, there are preparatory courses at the Faculty of Finance. Completing the courses will help students pass entrance exams to a master's program, increasing their chances of taking one of the extra-budgetary places (with tuition fees), admission to which is subject to competition.

Step 3 - Submission of documents and testing

8. Familiarize yourself with the list of documents and deadlines for admission to the master's program.

9. Submit documents during the work of the faculty selection committee.

When submitting documents, please indicate exactly which graduate program you are applying for. Make sure you know the required dates:

date and time of testing (as well as which test you will take),

the date by which you need (if necessary) to submit the original document on higher education and the procedure for enrollment;

the date by which it is necessary, if necessary, to conclude an agreement to pay for training and the date by which payment for training must be made.

Step 4 - Enrollment

10. Find out on the website the test result and your status - whether you can apply for training in that form.

11. If you do not find yourself in the lists with test results, immediately contact the selection committee to avoid technical errors when calculating points and determining ratings.

12. Remember that if you obtain the minimum required number of points (25 and above), you can apply for admission on a non-budgetary basis. You may need to submit an additional application for this - check with the selection committee.

13. Upon admission, you must bring the original document on higher education to the selection committee on time.

14. If you are admitted to a non-budgetary place or to a place with payment of the cost of additional educational services (training in English), check with the selection committee how and by what date you need to pay for training, according to the enrollment procedure.

Many modern university graduates are thinking about the question of whether a master's degree is needed after a bachelor's degree? Indeed, this is a serious question, because the young man is faced with a choice: to continue his studies at another level of higher education or to look for a job.

Let's try to answer this question.

What is a master's degree?

Before deciding whether a master's degree is needed after a bachelor's degree, you need to understand what it is.

This type of training arose in our country relatively recently. It appeared after Russia adopted a two-stage system of higher education that has long existed in the Western world. In this system, higher education is divided into two parts: bachelor’s degree, which involves practical training professional skills, and master's degree, which is a higher level of mastering professional skills.

Master's studies are completed by defending a master's thesis and receiving the first

Second stage of higher education

It would seem that with this approach it is very simple to solve the problem of whether a master’s degree is needed after a bachelor’s degree. “Of course, it is needed,” any school graduate or his parent will think.

However, there are a lot of pitfalls in this innovation, which we will look at below.

Master's degree as an innovation in recent years

It just so happens that the importance of master's degrees for the Western system of higher education is much greater than for ours.

This happened because in Russia there has always been a different system of higher education, which assumed the following stages: primary and higher. There was also the possibility of obtaining academic degrees: candidate and doctor of sciences.

On modern stage V Russian Federation These two systems have been preserved, because of this, higher education seems to have been divided into two halves: It turns out that an ordinary specialist who spent exactly 5 years within the walls of a university is equal to a master who wrote an entire dissertation.

Therefore, experts still cannot give an unambiguous answer to the question of whether a master’s degree is needed after a bachelor’s degree in Russia? It is needed, because a university graduate already has not one, but two diplomas of higher education, but employers do not particularly pay attention to what kind of higher education their employee has: a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree.

What prospects are open to a graduate?

First of all, school graduates are wondering what such a two-stage education at a university will bring them.

Therefore, they immediately decide for themselves whether they need to go to a master’s program after a bachelor’s degree or not.

Let's look at these prospects in more detail.

Theoretically, a master's degree provides an opportunity to claim a higher educational status. Therefore, a person with a master's degree can look for a more prestigious job.

However, as practice shows, employers are often interested simply in higher education and the specialty indicated in the diploma. In general, it doesn’t matter to him who comes to him: a specialist, bachelor or master.

At the same time, a master's degree provides an opportunity to modify your professional path. Let's say a young man has completed a bachelor's degree in management. But he enters the master's program with a specialty in journalism. Having passed additional exam, he can get a second higher education in 2 years and then work in the specialty that he chooses.

Another prospect that attracts young people who are wondering whether a master's degree is needed after a bachelor's degree is the opportunity to engage in teaching. But more on this in the next paragraph.

Master's degree for teaching

In the West, this level of higher education guarantees that the graduate will work in an educational institution: a college or university. He can also take up the position of junior researcher.

For us, such a prospect exists more theoretically than practically.

This is due to the fact that in Russia it is now possible to obtain three academic degrees: a master’s degree and a doctorate.

The universities employ mostly candidates and doctors of science; doctors are valued more, but there are fewer of them in number. There is a small percentage of teachers who have either a complete higher education on a specialty basis or a master's degree.

However, there are very few such teachers (about 8% of total number teaching staff) and their position in universities is the most unenviable: they have the heaviest workload and the smallest salary.

Therefore, in our country, in order to teach at a university and not be afraid of possible layoffs, you need to have academic degree not a master's degree, but a candidate of sciences.

And for this you need to go through the difficult procedure of defending a candidate’s dissertation. The requirements for it are more stringent than for a master's thesis.

Features of modern master's programs

Let us immediately note that learning is always a useful thing, but learning should benefit a person, and not to the detriment of his health or financial situation.

Therefore, before deciding for yourself whether to go to a master’s program after a bachelor’s degree, a young person must correlate his desires with his capabilities.

If he loves to study, studies at the university with pleasure and is ready to spend two more years of his life to gain new knowledge and master new skills, then his choice is a master's degree.

If he barely made it through 4 years of undergraduate study, went to classes every other time and dreamed not of knowledge, but of a diploma as a document of education, then he, of course, should not stay at the university for another 2 years with vague prospects for their future professional activities.

As we noted above, master's programs in modern conditions- this is something like a small plus in the biography. More precisely, this is evidence that a person diligently “gnawed the granite of science” for the sake of his future success. He rationally chose for himself another simpler professional or improved his knowledge in the old field, he worked day and night. However, a master's degree does not provide any guarantees of future prestigious employment.

For example, let’s ask ourselves whether an economist needs a master’s degree after a bachelor’s degree.

Perhaps another higher education diploma will be useful to him. However, it is obvious that a young man who has completed a bachelor’s degree and entered a specific position as an economist at a small enterprise will, after two years, acquire more theoretical and practical experience than one who entered a full-time master’s program and spent another 2 years at the university.

Forms of training

Let us note the fact that in the master's program the same as in the bachelor's degree.

There is a full-time opportunity, lasting two and a half years, full-time - two years. The education diploma does not yet indicate the form of study, although the Ministry of Education expects to indicate such a form soon.

Anyone who is deciding whether to complete a master's program after a bachelor's degree, and at the same time plans to work and study, should know that the number of classroom classes in a master's program is large. Often, universities, due to a lack of classrooms, postpone master's classes until the 3rd shift, which starts around 5 pm and ends late in the evening.

The forms of control are the same as in undergraduate studies: recording of current progress, tests, exams, for students distance learning - test papers etc.

Number of budget places for master's students

Also, young people dreaming of continuing their education should be aware of this trend last years, as a reduction in the number of budget places in universities for undergraduates. Usually the number of such places is equal to a quarter of graduating bachelors.

If the applicant does not enroll in a state-funded place, then he or his parents will have to pay for the education out of their own pocket. At the same time, prices for master's programs are much higher than for bachelor's degrees.

Partly because of this, the flow of people willing to study is not so great. It turns out that many young people, when asked whether they should enroll in a master’s program after a bachelor’s degree, answer in the negative.

This, of course, does not mean that studying at this level of higher education should be abandoned altogether. However, you need to very carefully evaluate both your strengths and your capabilities.

What to do?

In general, anyone young man Anyone who is trying to solve such a serious question as “Is it necessary to study in a master’s program after a bachelor’s degree?”, we can advise the following.

First, weigh all the pros and cons of your possible training. Think about whether his family or himself have the financial opportunity to receive such an education. After all, in fact, it will be very difficult to work during these 2 years. Will such a student be able to provide for himself financially? Will he be able to find funds for his maintenance?

Secondly, think about whether there are budget places for this level of training or will you have to look for your own financial resources?

Thirdly, is it possible to enroll in a master's program in a new specialty? For example, let’s ask ourselves whether a lawyer needs a master’s degree after a bachelor’s degree? Perhaps it is necessary if a lawyer enters a master's program in a new specialty, mastering the specialization of a criminologist or political scientist.

Is it possible to quit a master's degree?

This question is also asked very often. Indeed, the number of students expelled at their own request from master’s programs is 2 times higher than from bachelor’s programs.

This is due to the fact that young people, having realized that, having entered the master’s program, they continue to remain in the status of a “student”, decide to abandon the role that is boring to them and go into professional activity. Fortunately, they already have a diploma of higher education at the undergraduate level.

For example, does a programmer, a young man who is already a sought-after specialist in the field, need a master’s degree after a bachelor’s degree? modern market labor? Does he need to study for another 2 years when he can already work?

Of course, every young programmer must answer this question independently.

Is there an alternative to such training?

It should be noted that an alternative to such training exists today. This is the so-called professional retraining, which allows you to engage in a new type of activity.

The essence of such training, presented in the programs of most large and small universities in our country, comes down to the fact that a person who wants to gain the right to engage in a new type of activity enrolls in such a program and after some time receives a diploma.

The training is individual and group, but there are fewer training hours, so there are also few classroom sessions.

And the last question: does an accountant need a master's degree after a bachelor's degree?

After everything we have said above, finding the answer to this question is not difficult. Yes, a master’s degree can also be useful for an accountant, but he still needs to try to find this type of training. In our country, even a person without a higher education can become an accountant, simply by completing accounting courses. There is accounting as part of a bachelor's degree, but a master's degree with such a specialization is generally very difficult to find.

So, not all specialties in our country have this area of ​​higher education.

Thus, in this short article we examined the question of what a modern master’s degree program is in Russia. Of course, this area of ​​education has certain prospects, but so far this system experiences difficulties associated with the peculiarities of its implementation in educational practice of our state.

The master's degree is the second level of higher professional education, after completion of which the graduate is awarded a state diploma and is awarded qualification"master". In addition, master's programs often comprise .

The duration of master's studies is 2 years for full-time study, 2 years and 5 months for part-time study.

Since the master's degree is a form of higher education, the applicant should have a clear idea of ​​how the specialty, Bachelor's and Master's degrees.

• According to the Federal Law of the Russian Federation, a specialty is the first level of higher education, and the second.
• Master's degree lasts 2 years, specialty program - 5 years, bachelor's degree - 4 years, as, for example, in Moscow State University.
• The master's program is distinguished by a narrower area of ​​knowledge acquired by the student - clearly in the chosen specialization.
• Graduates of a specialty are awarded a specialist diploma, a bachelor's degree is awarded a bachelor's degree, and a master's degree is awarded a master's degree of science.
• Individuals who have graduated from school and passed the exam are accepted for specialty and bachelor's degrees. In contrast, only certified bachelor or specialist.

Studying in a master's program has a number of advantages:

acquisition of deep scientific knowledge in the chosen scientific field;

an individual approach to learning that helps students acquire a wide range of professional knowledge and skills;

conducting research work and gaining writing experience scientific work– master's thesis, which is required graduate school and building a scientific career;

gaining experience in teaching activities;

priority when hiring, since modern employers give unconditional preference to persons with master's degree.

Forms of training

Master's studies for free and can be carried out full-time and part-time using distance learning methods.

The classic version of full-time education consists of students attending lectures and seminars in accordance with the schedule, preparing essays, abstracts, theses, scientific articles and conducting scientific work on writing a master's thesis.

Correspondence Master's program involves drawing up an individual study plan and schedule for the student, attending classes not throughout the entire semester, but only during a certain period. However extramural, just like full-time, requires work on articles and a dissertation.

Very popular for modern system education and uses methods that include online lectures, seminars and consultations, remote conferences and round tables.

Regardless of the form of study, the student, based on the results educational process must pass exams and present the results of research work in the form of a master's thesis.

Admission procedure

Admission to the master's program is on a competitive basis. It is noteworthy that you can enroll in a master’s program not immediately after completing a bachelor’s degree, but regardless of whether How many years has passed since receiving the diploma. After all, a master's degree is needed only for those who want to receive higher education in a narrow specialization.

Only a person with a bachelor's or specialist's degree can enroll in a master's program. In the master's program, you can continue your studies in the specialty indicated in the diploma or change the direction of specialization. At the same time, persons entering a master's program in another direction for admission are required to pass an exam in it.

List of documents

Upon admission to the master's program, the applicant must provide the following documents:

Master's degree abroad

You can study in master's programs not only in Russia. Today, master's programs in universities in Europe and the USA are extremely popular, which has many advantages.

• America and Europe are home to some of the most famous and prestigious universities in the world, offering higher education in various specialties.
• Universities in the USA and Europe provide students with incredible technical opportunities, since almost every university is a research center and has modern laboratories equipped with the latest technology.
• Europe more convenient for Russian citizens due to its geographical proximity and the presence of the Schengen zone, in which you can move freely.
• In universities in the USA and Europe, education is conducted primarily in English, which is more accessible to Russian graduates, which is less often offered by Germany.

To enroll in a master's program at a foreign university, the following is required:

on the Internet or through another source of information, find out how to enroll in a master’s program abroad, cost of studying for a master's degree, find a master's program of interest or receive a training grant;

Today, many graduates of bachelor’s, specialist’s, and master’s degrees who decide to continue their studies at the master’s degree are concerned about one question:

What categories of persons have the right to study in a master's program for free?

Let's consider the situations of admission to a master's program on a budget for bachelors, graduate specialists and masters.

1. Admission to a master's program with a bachelor's degree is considered as receiving the first higher education. At the same time, you have every chance of enrolling in a master's program on a budget-funded form of education on a competitive basis.

2. Admission to a master's program with an old-style "certified specialist" diploma, for those graduates who were still studying at levels, and not at the stages of higher professional education, introduced in 2012, allows enrolling in a master's program on a budget.

3. Admission to a master's program with a new specialist diploma is considered as receiving a second higher education. Therefore, you can only apply for a contract form of training.

4. Admission to a master's program with a master's degree is considered as receiving a second higher education. Master's studies in a new specialty can only be carried out on a paid basis.

Let us recall that the new law “On Education of the Russian Federation”, which came into force on September 1, 2013, describes the full structure Russian education. Let's turn to Russian laws to prove the right of “certified specialists” to study in a “free master’s program.”

Master's programs for certified specialists are free

Proof:
1. New law on education (Article 69, part 8) defines those cases when obtaining a higher education is considered as a second higher education. This norm duplicates article 6, paragraph 5 of the law “On higher and postgraduate vocational education» for master's programs.

2. In the 8th part of Article 69 of Law No. 273-F3, master’s studies at the expense of the budget (master’s programs are free) are considered as a second or subsequent higher education for persons with a master’s or specialist’s diploma.

3. Previously there was an exception to this rule: article 4 part 4 Federal Law No. 232-FZ of October 24, 2007 (as amended by Federal Law No. 260-FZ of November 10, 2009). According to this exception: persons with a diploma qualifying as a “certified specialist” could study in a master's program for free. In this case, obtaining an education is not considered as obtaining a second higher education.

4. In Article 121, paragraph 21 of Federal Law No. 185-FZ, the law of October 24, 2007 No. 232-FZ was declared completely invalid, including Art. 4. Note that the terms, including the names of documents on qualifications and education, were preserved in the new Federal Law No. 273-F3.

5. Let’s consider article 60, part 7, clause 3. A specialist diploma means a document confirming receipt higher education specialty. This means that the concept of a specialist diploma in the Education Law does not include a “certified specialist” diploma.

6. Let us conclude: in Article 69, Article 8, Part, Clause 2 of the Federal Law “On Education in the Russian Federation,” there is no indication of persons who have “certified specialist” diplomas. Therefore, obtaining a master's degree for certified specialists is not considered as a second or subsequent higher education.

So, from September 1, 2013, certified specialists have the right to enroll in a master's program on a budget and study for free.

The entry in the column for “certified specialists” and “specialists” is different

According to the Law of the Russian Federation of August 22, 1996 No. 125-FZ “On Higher and Postgraduate Professional Education,” a “specialist” or “certified specialist” diploma determines the conditions for admission. We remind you that “certified specialists” can study for a master’s degree for free.

1. Thus, a certified specialist in his education documents in a certain column under the name “qualification” has an entry like “Chemist”, “Geographer”, etc.

2. The same persons who have the qualification “specialist” have the entry “Specialist” in the corresponding column.