housands of new college grads will enter the workforce this year, but with unemployment at 8.2% and underemployment near 18%， many will put off the taxing job search process and opt out of the weak job market to pursue graduate degrees.

　　美国今年将有成千上万的高校毕业生加入劳动力大军，但在美国失业率高达8.2%而未充分就业率接近18%的情况下，许多学生将推迟找工作，退出疲软的劳动力市场，继续攻读研究生学历。

　　With this in mind, Forbes set out to determine which master’s degrees would provide the best long-term opportunities, based on salary and employment outlook. To find the mid-career median pay for 35 popular degrees, we turned to Payscale.com, which lets users compare their salaries with those of other people in similar jobs by culling real-time salary data from its 35 million profiles. We then looked at the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ employment projection data to see how fast employment was expected to increase between 2010 and 2020 in popular jobs held by people with each degree. Finally we averaged each degree’s pay rank and estimated growth rank to find the best and worst master’s degrees for jobs。

　　出于这种考虑，福布斯着手从基于薪水和就业展望，判断哪些硕士学位会提供最好的长期机会。我们借助Payscale.com网站(用户可使用该网站3,500万份档案中的实时薪酬数据将自己的薪水与其他从事类似工作的人相比较)，找到35个热门硕士学位的职业中期平均薪酬数据。然后我们关注美国劳工统计局(Bureau of Labor Statistics)的就业预测数据，看看2010年-2020年期间持各种热门学位的人所从事的热门工作，它们的就业增长有多快。最后，我们算出各个学位的薪资水平和预计就业增长水平的平均值，然后比较出对就业而言最好和最差的硕士学位。

　　As it turns out, although there are too few doctors in the U.S. and too few seats in medical schools, those shortages are good for one segment of the population: people who get degrees as physician assistants。

　　结果发现，尽管美国的医生数量太少，医学院的席位太少，而这些稀缺对有一部分人却非常有利，那就是取得医师助理硕士学位的人。

　　Physician assistants are medical professionals who provide diagnostic and preventative health care services under the supervision of doctors—and they’re in high demand。

　　医师助理是在医生监督下提供疾病诊断和预防性医疗保健服务的医疗专业人员。目前对医师助理的需求量非常大。

　　“Both an aging population and health care rorm are contributing to a higher demand for health care services,” says Katie Bardaro, Payscale’s lead economist. “As fully capable medical professionals, physician assistants are able to alleviate the pressure on doctors by performing important and necessary health care tasks to this increasing pool of patients。”

　　“人口老龄化和医疗改革都对卫生保健服务有更大的需求，”Payscale网站的首席经济学家凯蒂·巴尔达罗(Katie Bardaro)说，“因为合格的医疗专业人员、医师助理可对数目逐渐增多的病人群体进行一些重要且必需的医疗处理，从而能够减轻医生的压力。”

　　They don’t earn as much as doctors, but their mid-career median pay is a whopping $97,000. Another advantage of a physician assistant degree: Employment opportunities are expected to grow 30% by 2020 (from the 2010 employment numbers)， according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics。

　　他们赚的不像医生那样多，但他们职业生涯中期的平均工资达到惊人的97,000美元。医师助理学位的另一项优势是：据劳动统计局的数据称，到2020年为止，其就业机会有望增加30%(从2010年的就业数字来看)。

　　Would-be physician assistants need to take certain science classes to prep for a master’s program, but they can earn undergraduate degrees in almost any field. The growing demand for them and the promise of fat paychecks put physician assistant degrees at the top of the heap in Forbes’ third-annual look at the best master’s degrees for jobs。

　　准医师助理需要读一些科学课程为研究生计划做准备，但他们可以获得几乎任何医疗领域的本科学位。持续增长的就业需求和丰厚的薪酬许诺使医师助理学位高居福布斯第三届最佳就业硕士学位榜榜首。

　　By our count, computer science follows close behind as the No. 2 best advanced degree for jobs。

　　计算机科学紧随其后，成为第二个就业最好的高等教育学位。

　　Mid-career median pay for these grads is $109,000, sixth best out of the 35 degrees in our survey. Employment opportunities for computer science degree-holders are expected to expand about 22% between 2010 and 2020.

　　这个专业的硕士毕业生职业中期的平均薪酬为109,000美元，在我们调查的35个学位中排名第六。计算机科学学位持有者的就业机会预计在2010年到2020年期间将扩大22%。

　　“In a technology driven world, the need for those who not only understand, but can improve upon technology is high,” Bardaro says. “As businesses of all types depend upon technology to get things done, computer science degree-holders will remain in high demand。”

　　“在一个科技驱动的世界中，对这些不仅懂技术还能提升技术的人的需求非常大，”巴尔达罗说，“随着各行各业都依赖科技完成工作，对计算机科学学位的需求会一直很大。”

　　Electrical engineering, physics and economics degrees also make the top 10, all with an average mid-career salary of more than $110,000 a year。

　　电气工程、物理学和经济学学位也在前十之列，这些专业的职业中期平均年薪都超过110,000美元。

　　A master’s in business administration (M.B.A) can also earn you six figures mid-career—but because of the poor growth outlook for common jobs held by these degree-holders, it doesn’t make the top 10 list。

　　工商管理硕士(M.B.A)也能帮你在职业中期赚到6位数，但由于这些学历持有者通常所从事的工作就业展望不佳，工商管理硕士不在前十之列。

　　Not all master’s degree holders enjoy anywhere near such optimistic job prospects or extraordinary pay. Getting a master’s in library and information science, English, music, or education can be extremely gratifying but pricy. Median mid-career median pay for all those degrees is under $63,000, and employment for them isn’t expected to grow significantly over the next few years。

　　不是所有硕士在所有领域都有与上述差不多的乐观工作前景或丰厚薪水。取得图书咨询学、英语、音乐或教育专业硕士学位的个人可能会获得极大的愉悦感，但“学费”高昂。这些专业职业中期平均收入在63,000美元以下，这些学位的就业在未来几年预计不会显著增长。

　　Library and information science degree-holders bring in $57,600 mid-career, on average. Common jobs for them are school librarian, library director and rerence librarian, and there are expected to be just 8.5% more of them by 2020. The low pay rank and estimated growth rank make library and information science the worst master’s degree for jobs right now。

　　图书咨询学专业的硕士在职业中期平均收入57,600美元。他们通常的工作是学校图书馆员，而且预计到2020年为止其就业增长只有8.5%。薪资及未来增长的都处于低水平使得图书信息学目前来说是最不利于就业的硕士学位。

　　Biology, chemistry and history degrees are also toward the bottom of the list—but that doesn’t mean they’re useless. If you’re passionate about these fields, the lower pay and slimmer job prospects shouldn’t deter you from pursuing a master’s. However, it’s important that you ask yourself a few questions bore you make that decision。

　　生物、化学和历史硕士也是垫底的硕士学位，但这不意味着他们毫无用处。如果你对这些领域有兴趣，较低的薪酬和较为狭窄的就业前景不应打消你攻读该专业硕士学位的念头。然而，做决定前问自己几个问题还是非常重要的。

　　Ask, “Is the program required to pursue a given career?” “What do the job opportunities look like?” and “Will the cost of the education outweigh the potential income?” If the answer to the last one is yes, then a master’s program is not the way to go, Bardaro says。

　　问问自己，“某一特定职业是否对这个研究生项目有要求?”“就业机会怎样?”“受教育的成本会大于过未来潜在的收入吗?”如果最后一个问题的回答是肯定的，那就不该选择研究生项目，巴尔达罗说。

　　Another thing to keep in mind: Master’s degree-holders don’t necessarily earn more than other people in similar jobs—so don’t base your decision to pursue one on the idea that you’ll bring in bigger paychecks。

　　另一点需要牢记的是：硕士赚得不一定比其他从事类似工作的人多——所以不要把攻读硕士的决定建立在赚更多的钱的基础之上。

　　“People may pursue a master’s degree in the hopes of a higher salary, but it doesn’t always work out,” she says. “Two absolute benits of graduate education are increased knowledge in a field and the ability to set oneself apart from those with only a bachelor’s degree. However, these two things together might not be enough for a given person。”

　　“人们可以追求硕士学位以期未来拿更高的薪水，但这不一定行得通，”她说，“研究生教育对两方面上有着绝对裨益：一是某个领域的知识增长，二是把自己和只有本科学位的人区别开来。然而，这两点加起来对某一特定的人来说可能还不够。”

　　These may be the best and worst master’s degrees in terms of pay and employment opportunities, but it’s also important to think about work-life balance and employee satisfaction for the common jobs associated with these degrees. “You need to consider overall happiness,” Bardaro says. “If obtaining a master’s degree causes an imbalance due to time devoted to education and potentially more stress at work, then one will need to decide if these costs are worth it. Evaluating the benits of a master’s degree is not just about the potential for higher pay, but also about the opportunities it will bring, the skills and knowledge it can provide, and overall satisfaction。”

　　从收入和就业机会两方面考虑，上述可能是几个最好和最差的硕士学位，但考虑工作和生活的平衡以及员工满意度也同样重要。“你需要考虑到全部幸福因素。”巴尔达罗说，“如果攻读一个硕士学位所花的时间及将来更多的工作压力，引起了一种失衡，那么你需要判断一下这样的代价是否值得。评估硕士学位带来的好处，不能仅仅是关乎获得更高薪水的可能性，还与它所带来的机会、所提供的技能和知识，还有整体满意度相关。”

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