Too many Masters degrees?

Something I have started to notice is a big increase in new Masters courses springing up at various different universities. What does this mean, I don't know for sure, but I had some thoughts...

Casting my mind back to the time I graduated from my undergraduate degree, it didn't feel like many people had a masters. From memory, there was only 2/3 courses that existed, and they were relatively small. I actually did apply to do a Masters but ended up not going through with it after deciding it wasn't really for me as a I secured a job instead.

Anyway, fast forward to now and there are much more options if you are wanting to do a masters in performance analysis. Coupled with the fact tuition fees are much more expensive than when I was at university, it would cost you the best part of £40k to get an undergraduate and masters degree in analysis (and that is not including living expenses!).

What seems to be popular at the moment are the masters degrees that embed you into a club. The clubs pay for your masters, and you work for the club for a year whilst you study on the side.

Someone who actually did a masters within a club is current head of academy analysis at Middlesbrough, Matty Owen. You can hear what his thoughts were on it in the podcast I recorded with him below:

On the whole this sounds like a good trade off. You have your masters paid for, and whilst studying, you are gaining some good experience in a professional setting.

You then think about it from the perspective of the universities and the teams, and they must be very happy with this scenario too. A professional club is getting a full-time employee for around 9k a year and the universities are selling more masters courses than ever (because the clubs are paying!). Maybe I'm being cynical, but it seems like a good way to further flood the market. What do you think? 🤷🏼‍♂️

I'm connected with a lot of analysts on LinkedIn that are working in great jobs, but I am also connected with students and aspiring analysts too, I also receive A LOT of CVs even when I am not advertising for roles, and it seems like there are so many people with masters without a job.

Are there too many analysts out there with Masters?
Have analysis masters degrees become a little less valuable?
Is it worth doing a Masters?

I don't know the answer to the above for sure, but it definitely gives something to think about. Curious to hear other people’s thoughts on this matter too.

Anyway, thanks for reading and have a great day!

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