Latest Figures Show Grad School No Longer a Luxury: Highest Paying Jobs and Lowest Unemployment Rates Require Advanced Degree

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- HigherEdge Marketing Services, a company dedicated to connecting students with higher-education institutions, today announced the launch of GradEdge (www.gradedge.com). GradEdge is a new community for post-graduate school research geared for the internet-savvy millennial and GenX generations. The site offers the broadest set of graduate school information available, including graduate school profiles, campus photos, social media, career and job trend information, program and career profiles and rankings from multiple trusted sources. Because GradEdge dynamically pulls information to the user based on specified areas of interest, users only see relevant pages, get a customized MyGradEdge home page, and experience a personalized guide to grad school opportunities.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs requiring a Master's or Doctorate are growing at 22% and 20% respectively from 2010 through 2020 while jobs requiring a Bachelor's degree are growing at 17%, and a high school diploma only 12%. In addition, those with graduate degrees have an average of up to 72% higher lifetime earnings and experience about half the unemployment rate as those with only a Bachelors Degree (2011). The highest job growth is in specialized areas of study including biomedical sciences, healthcare professions, math, finance, education, and engineering.

This trend has resulted in a 46% increase in post-graduate degrees awarded (between 2000 and 2010). Yet with all of that growth, there hasn't been a 'go to' place online for graduate school research and discovery. GradEdge has created a comprehensive online site for school research, including connections to Facebook and LinkedIn to help students quickly identify and build their social network at each school of interest. The site includes information on over 4,400 schools and over 53,000 study programs.

"Having worked in the higher-education field for many years, we saw a need for a better resource to serve the growing graduate school-bound population," said Young Shin, co-founder and president of HigherEdge. "GradEdge consolidates school information, rankings, and trends into one place. But we also wanted the site to incorporate social networking for a well-rounded and personalized experience. The result is a 360 view of schools and programs that help students make the best possible selection for their future careers."

Research and Discovery

GradEdge gathers information from admissions offices, third party sources such as The Princeton Review, and its own proprietary data to create a comprehensive profile for each school. The site includes photos, videos and links to social networking sites for each school. GradEdge also references rankings information from publications, governmental sources, trade journals and associations, and clearly identifies top-ranked schools in each search listing. In addition, trend charts and articles help students identify what careers are in demand, allowing them to consider up-and-coming fields of study they may not have known about but employers are seeking.

Social Media and Networking

GradEdge not only connects students with the schools' Twitter feeds, Facebook pages, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, Blogs, Google+, Vimeo, and Foursquare channels, but also lets them connect with alumni and current students, school staff and administration, and relevant trade associations. Students can immediately identify all friends and professional contacts who are students or alumni of a particular university -- including "2nd-level" connections in their LinkedIn community. This helps students quickly discover and build a valuable network as they research and apply to each school.

Personalized Pages

As each individual searches for particular programs and schools, GradEdge learns the user's interests and preferences and creates a personalized page. The student's home page provides one-click access to relevant information and detailed graduate program profiles (such as sample coursework, degree options, and undergraduate preparation), career profiles, job growth, enrollment trend information, and related trade organizations. If a student is interested in multiple tracks, such as an MBA and a Master of Public Health (MPH), GradEdge saves both programs, and enables the student to quickly access relevant post-graduate study options and career information on each program. 

Availability

GradEdge is available at www.gradedge.com immediately and is free of charge to anyone visiting the site. Schools who wish to update the information contained on the site can contact [email protected].  Schools who would like more information about advertising on GradEdge.com can contact [email protected].

About HigherEdge Marketing Services

Founded in 2007, HigherEdge connects students with higher education institutions through online media, marketing materials and publications. The company developed GradEdge in 2012 to help students discover graduate programs and to help schools find prospective students more efficiently and effectively. The company is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in New York City.  For more information, please visit www.gradedge.com.

SOURCE HigherEdge Marketing Services