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Does a Masters Degree Make a Difference?

By Steve Johnson

According to our survey, it does.

In the 2005 Annual Product Management Salary Survey, we compared product management experience against college versus advanced degrees. In each experience group, the higher degree results in a higher salary.

Experience







Bachelors
Degree






Masters
Degree

00--00







$ 71,000






$ 84,250

01--02







 59,200






 82,714

03--05







 72,083






 84,882

06--10







 82,486






 94,429

11--15







 95,417






 99,308

15+







 99,933






 108,625

I remember my father complaining about people with MBAs years ago. He felt that they treated people and projects like numbers on a spreadsheet. And I think we've all seen examples that prove the fiction of "a good manager can manage anything." However, MBA programs teach how to run the business aspects of a product, something technical people tend to avoid.

Product managers garner credibility from a deep understanding of the product combined with broad customer experience. Nonetheless, adding a masters degree to your resume seems to result in adding to your family's bottom line.