Graduation has come and gone but students with a bachelor’s degree may have to return for a master’s if they want the future they desire.

Matt Lopez, the Director of Administration for the graduate program, said the worth of a degree has shifted over the last few years.

“If you compare what a bachelor’s degree is and was … it has become the new high school diploma,” Lopez said.

The U offers two routes for upper education, a certificate and a degree. A certificate is a narrowed focus and requires fewer hours whereas a degree is two to three years of a focused experience.

Lopez said he believes an undergraduate degree will not take students as far as it did a few years ago, however he noted that a master’s degree will continue to be prestigious.

“I don’t think it will be the norm to get a master’s,” Lopez said. “When comparing to the past, there are a level of skills that the marketplace wants and in many instances a lot of jobs are looking for those skills and that critical thinking that accompanies a master’s.”

The U will likely see a lot of returning students from undergraduate into the graduate programs. According to Braden Green in the office of administration, the 2015 numbers have not been posted and “have not been tallied because so many are still applying.”

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