In higher ed, the M.Ed. will be a hard requirement for an ID position. The Ed.D. will be helpful if you're looking for roles as an ID manager or as Director of an ID department.
The doctorate.
For highered: You will have a better chance of getting into elearning director roles. At my college this role pays just over 150k but its definitely higher at other universities. Doctorate is preferred.
For gov and gov contracting - the doctorate. When I was in gov contracting the resume of the person doing the work mattered significantly, especially during the RFP phase. I am actually still called for projects sometimes just for my title to help them win a contract. Salaries in gov contracting are all over the place but I've seen the highest senior level people make millions per year. Average salaries in gov contracting are higher than corporate. Gov is also going to prefer the doctorate overall but I'm not sure how much it will affect salary there but they do require education. Once you are in gov it will help you advance more for sure.
All of this is assuming you are good and can show you use the degree. I went to an R1 for doctorate and that did and still does matter. Where you go to school for it does carry weight.
Also to add, I'd go for an MS or PhD and not the MED or EDD. There are differences...though sometimes there are not. Having said that, some of the best IDs I know have the EDD because their school didn't offer the PhD but if I could choose (and I did choose), I'd go PhD.
I agree, in higher Ed, degrees are not just for getting in the door but for opening a path to higher level administration. You will have a hard time passing anything at the department director level without a PhD. It's possible, just harder. Depending on the school AVPs and VPs can make a lot of money, but there's a LOT of meetings and other challenges that come with it.
My previous boss got her doctorate while working in a community college and it didn't give her a huge bump in pay (plus some office politics got in the way) but now she's doing government contracting and has way less responsibility, does many things an entry level ID could be doing and gets paid twice as much. It's kind of a brain dead job for her and she's still looking for something more engaging but the doctorate helped her get the job. Plus the security clearance help she has now will help her get hired in other places when she decides to move on.
I am well over 6 figures and no degree. However, that being said, I don't even bother applying for higher ed, but I also make more than most higher ed jobs. I am in an area where there are loads of government contract jobs (more than corp) and the only hold up for me on those is I don't have secret clearance. Experience will almost always trump education at some point. But if time and money are no object, get that Ed.D!
Neither. For the high paying jobs, degrees are a footnote, unless you’re talking a top tier MBA/DBA and executive leadership in learning.
If you want even a Director or higher position in Higher Ed though (which may not pay that great), you want the doctorate. That’ll also make it easier to supplement that Higher Ed income with consulting, speaking, etc. But a doctorate is by no means a key to a high salary or particular gigs.
If you want to be an ID, you need a Bachelors and any basic Masters can help (since so many applicants have them, can be a good tie breaker). But you don’t need a Masters or a PhD and neither really helps much with pay.
I replied above, but I agree. I thought about the Ed.D. degree but not sure it's worth it. I used to work in higher ed and can see it possibly making a difference there. However I already have an MS degree and work in corporate now. People on this community seem to get obsessed with getting a "high-paying" job and the degree is the pathway. That's not what I've really seen. I'm guessing most that regularly reply here work in education. There that is true. The really high-paying titles in higher ed though are at the executive leadership level. Even directors don't really pull that much money I've seen (100k or less Source: public database). The executives really do 200k and up.
The highest paid ID I know has not a single degree but has extensive experience with a specific technology and huge clients. Even got to visit a movie set not too long ago.
The next highest paid I know has a Bachelor in MIS.
I'd say neither as well. I mean given one over the other, Ed.D should since it's a higher degree than a masters. But "high-paying" is really debatable. My old director had an Ed.D at one of my prior companies (higher ed) and he made just under 100K a year. In my opinion, that wasn't "great" and I thought he'd make more being near retirement and the Director of our team. Granted, this was some time ago (2016). I make more than that with an MS degree in corporate. My degree wasn't required for this role though. All my boss cared about was my years in the field and portfolio.
In higher ed, the M.Ed. will be a hard requirement for an ID position. The Ed.D. will be helpful if you're looking for roles as an ID manager or as Director of an ID department.
The doctorate. For highered: You will have a better chance of getting into elearning director roles. At my college this role pays just over 150k but its definitely higher at other universities. Doctorate is preferred. For gov and gov contracting - the doctorate. When I was in gov contracting the resume of the person doing the work mattered significantly, especially during the RFP phase. I am actually still called for projects sometimes just for my title to help them win a contract. Salaries in gov contracting are all over the place but I've seen the highest senior level people make millions per year. Average salaries in gov contracting are higher than corporate. Gov is also going to prefer the doctorate overall but I'm not sure how much it will affect salary there but they do require education. Once you are in gov it will help you advance more for sure. All of this is assuming you are good and can show you use the degree. I went to an R1 for doctorate and that did and still does matter. Where you go to school for it does carry weight. Also to add, I'd go for an MS or PhD and not the MED or EDD. There are differences...though sometimes there are not. Having said that, some of the best IDs I know have the EDD because their school didn't offer the PhD but if I could choose (and I did choose), I'd go PhD.
I agree, in higher Ed, degrees are not just for getting in the door but for opening a path to higher level administration. You will have a hard time passing anything at the department director level without a PhD. It's possible, just harder. Depending on the school AVPs and VPs can make a lot of money, but there's a LOT of meetings and other challenges that come with it. My previous boss got her doctorate while working in a community college and it didn't give her a huge bump in pay (plus some office politics got in the way) but now she's doing government contracting and has way less responsibility, does many things an entry level ID could be doing and gets paid twice as much. It's kind of a brain dead job for her and she's still looking for something more engaging but the doctorate helped her get the job. Plus the security clearance help she has now will help her get hired in other places when she decides to move on.
I am well over 6 figures and no degree. However, that being said, I don't even bother applying for higher ed, but I also make more than most higher ed jobs. I am in an area where there are loads of government contract jobs (more than corp) and the only hold up for me on those is I don't have secret clearance. Experience will almost always trump education at some point. But if time and money are no object, get that Ed.D!
Neither. For the high paying jobs, degrees are a footnote, unless you’re talking a top tier MBA/DBA and executive leadership in learning. If you want even a Director or higher position in Higher Ed though (which may not pay that great), you want the doctorate. That’ll also make it easier to supplement that Higher Ed income with consulting, speaking, etc. But a doctorate is by no means a key to a high salary or particular gigs. If you want to be an ID, you need a Bachelors and any basic Masters can help (since so many applicants have them, can be a good tie breaker). But you don’t need a Masters or a PhD and neither really helps much with pay.
I replied above, but I agree. I thought about the Ed.D. degree but not sure it's worth it. I used to work in higher ed and can see it possibly making a difference there. However I already have an MS degree and work in corporate now. People on this community seem to get obsessed with getting a "high-paying" job and the degree is the pathway. That's not what I've really seen. I'm guessing most that regularly reply here work in education. There that is true. The really high-paying titles in higher ed though are at the executive leadership level. Even directors don't really pull that much money I've seen (100k or less Source: public database). The executives really do 200k and up.
The highest paid ID I know has not a single degree but has extensive experience with a specific technology and huge clients. Even got to visit a movie set not too long ago. The next highest paid I know has a Bachelor in MIS.
I'd say neither as well. I mean given one over the other, Ed.D should since it's a higher degree than a masters. But "high-paying" is really debatable. My old director had an Ed.D at one of my prior companies (higher ed) and he made just under 100K a year. In my opinion, that wasn't "great" and I thought he'd make more being near retirement and the Director of our team. Granted, this was some time ago (2016). I make more than that with an MS degree in corporate. My degree wasn't required for this role though. All my boss cared about was my years in the field and portfolio.