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Q, I'll soon be graduating with a Bachelor of Science in journalism and a Bachelor of Arts in English. I've had excellent experience in a few high-profile internships and am on my way to a great reporting job.

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But as my graduation nears, I feel like my education is incomplete. At some point, I'd like to go to graduate school in English for two main reasons: I think it will fulfill a need in me for a thorough education in what I consider the most important subject to study, and I think that having a graduate degree will help expand my career trajectory, enabling me to go for positions such as an editor, high-level reporter, magazine writer or even a teacher at a community college or university. Further study in journalism, unless it's focused on the Web, doesn't interest me.

But I wonder if a graduate degree in English is worthless in journalism. What will it count for? Would I be better off compromising my interests to study something that could directly improve my reporting, like Spanish, economics or political science? Do you think a graduate degree is becoming more of a necessity for promotion in this field?

Thanks for your thoughts. They're always insightful.

A student

A. Should you go to grad school? The answer is in your question.

The way you use "incomplete" and "a thorough education" say that you will not feel fulfilled if you do not earn an advanced degree. So earn one. Fulfillment is so important.

Joe Grimm

And, as you consider English to be the most important subject to study, perhaps that is the way to go.

But a master's degree in English will not help you advance in journalism. The knowledge gained in some of the areas you mentioned could help -- but the degrees themselves do not. Journalism does not automatically pay more to people with advanced degrees as education does. There can be promotions and pay for people who apply what they learn in breakout ways. Think about your internships. Could you tell who the most competent and confident people were? Yes. But you could not as easily observe educational levels.

So, continue your studies for yourself, but work hard to apply what you learn for your career.

Let's hear from others -- particularly hiring editors and educators. Are advanced degrees undervalued in our newsrooms? Click on Add Your Comments.

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Coming Monday: He has a chance to take a smaller job at a much bigger paper but worries it might take him right out of reporting.

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