The number of students in the U-niversity of Chicago program that bestows a Master of Arts degree in social sciences has quadrupled since 1989, jumping to 160 from 40, and despite a tuition price tag of $37,000, every year more students clamor for admittance.
芝加哥大學專攻社會科學的碩士班學生人數，自1989年以來已增為四倍，從40人跳升到160人，儘管學費高達37,000美元（約台幣123萬），每年還是有更多學生申請入學許可。<br>
  "It's an expensive degree, but stu-dents have calculated how fast they get their investment back," said John J. MacAloon, an associate dean at the University of Chicago and director of the program. "And it is beneficial for the university because there is a lot of tuition income to be had."
芝大副院長兼碩士班主任麥克阿倫說：「拿學位很貴，但學生算算，他們很快就可以把投資連本帶利拿回來，而且這對大學也很有利，因為可以有很多學費進帳。」
More students than ever have started master's programs this fall, and universities are seeing those programs as potentially lucrative sources of rev-enue. The number of students earning these degrees around the country has nearly doubled since 1980. Since 1970, the growth is 150 percent, more than twice as fast as bachelor and doctorate programs.
今秋唸碩士班的學生空前多，而大學院校也認為，碩士班課程有潛力成為賺錢的收入來源。全美拿碩士學位的學生自1980年以來幾近倍增；1970年以來更成長了150%，比學士和博士班快兩倍以上。
"Master's programs are the most obvious targets of opportunity," said George L. Mehaffy, a vice president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.  "The de-grees are in high demand, and this is an optimal time to enter or expand the market."
美國州立大學院校協會副會長梅哈菲說：「碩士學位顯然是適時投資目標，碩士學位需求殷切，現在正是加入或擴大市場的契機。」
For students, the degrees are often expensive; at private universities, many students take out $50,000 in loans for every year of school. And scholarships and fellowships are rare, unlike doctoral programs, which are usually fully financed by universities.
對學生而言，拿學位往往太貴。在私立大學，每年很多學生向校方申請五萬美元（約台幣166萬）貸款，但獎助學金很少，不像博士學位，通常由校方全額補助。
Still, many say the price is worth it. In his two-year master's program in science technology and environmental policy from the University of Min-nesota Craig Nelson had $35,000 in loans. Now, he works in regulatory affairs at the 3M Company.  "Without the degree, I wouldn't have the job," he said. "So even though I'll be pay-ing the loan for 10 years, it was a good move for me."
但很多人還是說，錢花得值得。尼爾森在明尼蘇達大學上了兩年科技與環境政策碩士班，向校方貸款35,000美元，現在在3Ｍ公司管理部門工作。他說：「如果沒有學位，我不可能找到這個工作，所以雖然我要付十年貸款，對我還是一步好棋。」
Getting into the business of offering these degrees can be a good move for universities, too, with some that have traditionally focused only on under-graduate students now entering the master's market. The California State University system, for example, has introduced many new applied master's degrees and is expanding its master's of business administration programs.
對大學院校，提供碩士學位也是高招，有些大學原本只注重大學部，現在也投入碩士市場，像加州州立大學系統，就引進很多新的應用碩士學位，同時擴大企管碩士班課程。
"We are really conscious of the fact that master's degrees are becoming the coin of the realm," said Gary W. Re-ichard, the executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer for the California system.  "And because M.B.A.'s can offer tremendous salary boosts down the road, we can charge higher tuitions to students."
州立加大系統副校長兼學務長雷查德說：「我們其實已注意到，碩士班其實已成為聚寶盆。同時因為拿了企管碩士，薪水就可以三級跳，我們可以向學生增收學費。」
Universities also do not have to provide dormitory rooms and dining halls for master's candidates, because graduate students typically do not live on campus.
大學院校也不用提供碩士班候選人食宿，因為碩士班學生多半不住校。

 Some university officials say the explosion of these programs has less to do with revenue than it does with the marketplace pressures on students to get higher degrees and credentials.
有些大學校務人員說，碩士班呈爆炸性成長，和收入多寡較無關，主要是因市場壓力使學生要拿較高的學位和證書。
But some schools are in the busi-ness of both making money and edu-cating students. The University of Phoenix, a commercial institution with 60 branch campuses and around 200,000 students, awarded 24,788 master's degrees last year, mostly for work completed online in business and education. That was at least a thousand more than the number of bachelor's degrees it awarded.
有些學校投入這個行業，著眼於賺錢和教育學生。鳳凰城大學商學院有60所分校及約20萬名學生，去年頒發了 24,788個碩士學位，不管商業還是教育，大半都在線上完成。這個數字至少比該校頒發的學士學位多一千人。
Universities are also luring master's students into staying for multiple years by offering dual-degree programs: two master's degrees at twice the cost. Some programs join international af-fairs and journalism, science and pub-lic policy, business and education. Other schools extend programs; for example, the University of Wiscon-sin's two-year master's degree in an-thropology can be lengthened to three years if students want to add a muse-um studies concentration.
大學院校也吸引碩士班學生多留校幾年：兩個碩士學位，學費加倍。有些碩士班雙學位計畫，以國際事務搭新聞；科學搭公共政策；商業搭教育。其他學校則提供延伸教育，例如，威斯康辛大學兩年的人類學碩士學位，如果學生希望增加博物館密集研究，則可延長到三年。
And many students believe that these multiple degrees are highly valuable in today's competitive job market.
很多學生相信，這些多重學位在今天充滿競爭力的就業市場物超所值。
Rey A. Phillips Santos has three graduate degrees gracing his resume: two master's and one in law.  "There is a huge demand for credentials in high-level jobs now," said Mr. Phillips, who is a lawyer for the Chicago city government.  "Each of my degrees helped me to get a leg up in the job market, and earn higher salaries than I would have otherwise. They were great investments."
菲立普斯．桑托斯履歷傲人，有三個學位：兩個碩士學位，其中一個是法律。目前擔任芝加哥市政府律師的菲立普斯說：「高階工作現在要求很多學歷證明。我每個學位都幫我在職場更上層樓，賺更高的薪水，比沒有這些學位好多了。這項投資很上算。」
《詞解》
windfall 意外之財
quadruple增為四倍
tuition學費
clamor for admittance
  要求入學許可
target of opportunity適時目標
optimal time契機
master’s of business
administration企管碩士
chancellor大學校長
chief academic officer學務長
credentials證書
dual-degree programs
  雙學位計畫
extend programs延伸教育
anthropology人類學
get a leg up in the job market
  在職場更上層樓
resume履歷
studies concentration密集研究