need some advice!

[lax854]

so i was wondering what everyone's opinion on this would be. I have a BA in criminal justice and have been contemplating getting a masters. I would do it online so i can still work and would be from an accredited university. Probably do it over 2 years and would cost roughly 10k.I would probably get the masters in education or criminal justice. Now im struggling with it for the simple reason of will it help me? i have my job, i can rise to the rank of captain with my BA. So why get the degree?? well im thinking for after the job, maybe become a teacher for 10 years, ill only be 41 when im eligible to retire. So what does everyone think, is it worth it??? btw im 23 now

[SnapShawt]

It can't hurt, and as you said, will really come in handy if you decide to retire and go into teaching. I say go for it.

[Kimble]

My wife was a teacher for years. The burnout rate for new teachers within the first 3 years is HUGE. It's not just unruly kids and discipline, it's touchy-feely policies by school administrators, testing standards (like No Child Left Behind) that are unrealistic in the classroom, parents who question your judgment (and think their child is beyond repute) and complain on you to administration, and the fact that the majority of your time will be dealing with problem/struggling students (vice normal or gifted students). My wife had a mother report her to the principal as "racist" because she took away two students' permission to go on a field trip afte numerous disciplinary warnings. The administrator took the parent's side after initially enforcing my wife's decision.

Teaching is certainly a noble profession, but many people get into it and find that they hate it. Coming from a law enforcement background, where the law is the law and it's your job to enforce it, you may be easily disgruntled to be in an environment where administrators may or may not enforce the very rules and policies they create (depending on what type of person they are). Just food for thought.

If teaching is something you're really passionate about, see if down the road you can get an academy instructor slot and see if it's what you think it is. That might give you a more informed opinion on whether you'd like teaching in an academic setting as well. I admit I enjoyed teaching CJ classes, but most of my students were motivated to learn because they wanted to work in this profession and they had the tuition to be there, not because the state law said they have to be there up to a certain age.

[Charlie]

so i was wondering what everyone's opinion on this would be. I have a BA in criminal justice and have been contemplating getting a masters. I would do it online so i can still work and would be from an accredited university. Probably do it over 2 years and would cost roughly 10k.I would probably get the masters in education or criminal justice. Now im struggling with it for the simple reason of will it help me? i have my job, i can rise to the rank of captain with my BA. So why get the degree?? well im thinking for after the job, maybe become a teacher for 10 years, ill only be 41 when im eligible to retire. So what does everyone think, is it worth it??? btw im 23 now

I doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks. It's all about what do YOU want to do? What are your interests and goals? Besides, if you get a Masters, you do not necessarily have to apply it towards a teaching job. It is a possibility you may decide to do something else down the road. And, there's always a possibility some sort of life event or circumstances can occur where you end up changing careers; something that can happen to anyone of us. Your education is something you can always fall back on. You have to think ahead. As I always tell my guys/gals, you can never get enough education. It's something else you can add to your resume.

I'd say go for it if you have the time and opportunity to do it. I'm 44 now and have about 2-years in college credits. I only wish I had a college degree. For a variety of valid reasons, I have not finished getting a degree but plan to do so in the near future. As the saying goes, "Hind sight is 20/20." If I had the chance to do things over, I wish I would have continued and finished my education a lot sooner.

[SnapShawt]

I'm right there with you. I'm going to finish out my degree and earn instructor certifications to teach at an academy when I've had enough of this.

[mcsap]

With 2 years to go until I CAN retire...I already started doiing instruction even though I do not have a degree. I do seminars ( 4 hours long) on Motor Carrier Safety Regs and rules and how they apply to small companies. I just did one today.

It isn't full time and it is not likely to ever become that but it is fun, I KNOW the topic well and I actually only intended to do 2 hours and before I knew it, 4 hours had passed !

GO for it. A well rounded police officer with a good background can be a great teacher.

[retdetsgt]

I have a masters and got it with the idea of teaching at a community college level when I retired. I thought it would be fun to do something completely different than what I had done for the last 28+ years. When the time came though, I decided I didn't want to screw with it.

Partly because the pay for part time instructors is horrible (about convenience store wages) and partly because I just decided I wanted to enjoy being retired. I could have taught at the state police academy, but it would be a 45 minute drive each way daily. That I really considered because I've done that for years when I was working and really enjoyed it. But when push came to shove, I decided I didn't want to deal with any more bureaucrats of any kind.

That being said, some people want to continue working doing something. Some continue in police related fields, others do something completely different. Several friends of mine had started little construction companies, for example

[Roger Dat]

My job pays for my degrees so I will be finishing mine as well. We have several active and retired cops from my job that teach CJ courses at local colleges.

[phantasm]

NYPD offers scholarships for masters degrees. Check the boards with the stuff that comes out. I think it might be the green ones, but not sure.

[DeltaV]

Now im struggling with it for the simple reason of will it help me? i have my job, i can rise to the rank of captain with my BA. So why get the degree?? well im thinking for after the job

Just because you can be a captain with a BA doesn't mean that you will be a captain with a BA. You only need a bachelor's degree to be the chief at my department, but our last assistant chief had a PhD and both of our current assistants have masters degrees. While it's not required, I'd say 75% of our upper level administrators have a masters degree. If you eventually do want to get into administration, you really can't be overeducated. Just like bachelor's degrees are becoming more common with entry-level applicants, graduate degrees are becoming more common with promotional candidates.

After retirement the masters will only help you no matter what you decide to do. Even if you decide not to go into teaching, having a masters degree will help you if you decide to go into some form of consulting, go back to work as an administrator at a small department, or seek employment as a law enforcement instructor at an academy or with another institution (IPTM, Reid Institute, etc.).

In short, I think it would be a good idea to have. That said, you could always go back and get your degree after you retire once you figure out what you want to do if you really don't want to do it now.

[lax854]

i def agree with what everyone has said to this point. It cant hurt and im going to put some more research into it. My only problem will be can i juggle the job with the amount of work that goes into a masters degree. Plus, wanting to study to make boss will certainly add to the situation. I will alleviate some of the burden by taking online classes that will hopefully adapt to my schedule. Im going to give it some more research, thanks to everyone who contributed!