ROI on a doctoral degree

[John Warren]

Hi BP members,

I am in the midst of deciding on whether or not to pursue a doctoral degree. This has been an amazing year for my wife and I as we closed on our first investment property (a four unit apartment building), and welcomed our second son into the world! I also became a licensed real estate broker in Illinois!

In the midst of all this, I am trying to decide whether or not it will be worth it for me to get a doctoral degree in higher ed. Here are the "pros and cons". Let me know what you all think!

Pros

-guaranteed increase of 9k a year as soon as I complete it (union teacher contract!)

-increases in base pay add up to over 20k more per year by the 25th year (I know... a long time).

-Could make me more employable if I ever left my tenured community college job. 

-Prestige. It would be somewhat personally fulling to complete a doctoral degree as I probably will make a career out of higher ed.

Cons

-guaranteed increase of 9k a year... after paying 38k in tuition. 

-I might be able to make more money in Real estate if I leverage all of that time. 

-The pay off takes a long time. The break even point is around 7 years after I start the degree program.

So what do you think BP members? Would you take the plunge?