With the present economy in a recession and students graduating college with bachelor’s degrees, sometimes having a four-year degree just is not enough.

Bill Elliott, the assistant dean of Eastern’s Graduate School, said many students are making the decision to stay in school and put in the extra time to have a slightly better annual income.

“Although the average rate of unemployment is 7.6 percent, the rate for those with a master’s degree was only 3.6 percent,” he said.

Elliott said this statistic from the U.S. Bureau of Labor in 2011 can be helpful for students trying to make the decision to continue their education after obtaining a four-year degree.

“Even though the recession has been bad, those most affected have either no college degree or an associate at most,” he said.

Elliott said studies have shown that students with a higher degree have more job security, and despite a rocky economy, tend to do quite well in their careers.

He said when students plan on staying in school solely for the fact that they are avoiding “the real world,” it is not a good reason.

“We always counsel students that to be successful in a master’s degree program, you should really research your options carefully and find something that you’re passionate about,” he said. “Staying in strictly just to hang on just because the real world is scary isn’t always the best choice.”

Elliott said he has not seen a direct correlation or trend in students staying for graduate school because of the economy.

“Our enrollment numbers have dropped slightly in the past few years, but most of that is due to graduate programs changing some of their course offerings and redesigning their options to meet the needs of current students,” he said.

Elliott said the graduate program has had around 1,500 students enrolled for the past two falls, and the program also admits students going for their second bachelor’s degree and post-baccalaureate programs.

He said the enrollment for that group is around 110 students.

The largest enrollment decreases have been in programs that have significant online competition, he said.

“If the student can get an online degree in a certain program, it will result in lower numbers for that program,” Elliot said.

Another aspect of the graduate program being developed is a mentoring institute.

“We will work with students, not only to recruit more students, but to work with them once they get into the graduate program,” he said. “We plan to assist them after they graduate, hopefully helping develop mentoring relationships not only with professors but also with businesses and entities that will hire them.”

Elliott said one of the greatest parts of the graduate program is the ability to continue relationships from Eastern into the workplace.

“Our faculty develops a mentoring relationship with our students that carries over into their careers,” he said. “It really helps our students be successful and go out and get their careers started.”

Elliot said the department received the grant for the mentoring program last year, and they are currently working to implement it.

“The program prepares them well for their career and will help them once they get out and start really working.”

Robyn Dexter can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].