Some master’s degree programs have more of a positive effect on people than others. Source: The Clancy Group

Investing in a master’s degree is always seen as a way of improving the pace of your career growth. Although in most cases it works, in some it may not. Forbes has been compiling and analyzing compensation data on major master’s degrees to see which of these programs have had the biggest positive effects on people. Forbes has also factored in job satisfaction and stress to assess the best and the worst master's degree programs.

Here is the full list:

Best Degree Programs

1.Occupational Therapy

An occupational therapy master’s degree is incredibly beneficial. Source: Healthable

Do you want to help people? Do you want to make a difference and make money? Turns out a master’s degree in occupational therapy has great benefits with a job growth of 17%. Employees making a mid-career salary of $64,000 get a bumper raise to $81,300.

2.Physician Assistant Studies

Early career salaries for Physicians assistants stand at $88,600 but mid-career pay rises to $105,000 after the master’s degree. There is also a good 17% job growth for people working in this area. It’s one of the best performing programs today.

3.Computer Science

With computers running pretty much everything nowadays, a master’s in computer science is something to consider. Source: Athens

Computer science has always been a big area to venture in and a master’s degree will get you a job growth of about 12%. Early career earnings improve too from $84,300 to $125,000 towards mid-career levels. It’s a safe bet if you’re into computers.

4.Management Information Systems

As for people working in management information systems, early career salaries grow after the master’s degree from $64,600 to $118,000. Not a bad return if you ask us, especially when you consider the job growth in its totality stands at 9%. Companies always need management.

5.Physical Therapy

A master’s in physical therapy helps boost the average salary a great deal. Source: Mr Zimmerman 131

A career in Physical therapy gets better with a postgraduate master’s degree. From an early career salary of $71,700, the mid-career pay rises to reach $86,800. When other factors are included, job growth in this area is 15%. This makes it a comfortable position.

6.Communication Sciences and Disorders

The rate of job growth for people with a master’s degree here is about 16%. An early salary of $62,400 gets a bumper raise to reach $79,900 at the mid-level career stage too. This makes it a very valuable starting position.

7.Biostatistics

The best degree with the best raise is Biostatistics. From an early career salary of $68,000, the mid-career paycheck will rise to hit $104,000. That is almost double and job growth too stands at 18%. If you can grasp it, it’s a very lucrative career.

The Worst Degree Programs

Having looked at the best master degree programs, let’s now take a look at some of the worst.

1.Elementary Education

Unfortunately, a master’s in elementary education doesn’t result in the amount of growth you’d expect. Source: Rivier

The first is elementary education that will only get you a job growth of 6% and a salary rise from $40,800 early career earnings to mid-career earnings of $55,100. It’s a very rewarding career if you can cope with the stress.

2.Arts History

A master’s degree in arts history is also not a good performer with the rate of job growth from early career to mid-career standing at just 6%. Still, no degree is a bad degree, and it will help further your advancement in the world.

3.Journalism

A master’s degree in journalism will get you a job growth of 5% and an improvement in early career salary too. But it’s not as good as the others listed above. Pursue if your heart is into it.

There you go, these are some of the best and worst master’s degree programs out there. If you are planning to advance your career, you should choose wisely. But as they say, a man who does what he loves will never have to work a day in his life.