Thinking About Grad School is Maddening

I’m in a rut with the idea of grad school and in fear of getting a completely terrible attitude about it, I’m going on a little vent in order for some of you to share your experiences to lead me in the right direction.

I’ve been interested in going to grad school for about 3 years now, but I’m not impressed with the selection of accessible, local offerings as far as coursework. I’m not interested in a traditional MBA and not interested in many other traditional coursework options offered for the developing, socially minded, nonprofit professional trying to solve today’s problems. When my nonprofit peers tell me that they weren’t happy with what they got out of the programs, it makes me want to hold onto my $12,000 - $22,000 even tighter. That’s not money that’s going to automatically return to a nonprofit professional.

I know that I’m not 100% sure on what I want to get a degree in, and I’m waiting out for the first university that allows students to create custom grad programs. When will we be able to pull some MBA, social work, public policy, and communication courses together and really tailor make an education for the student? I’m not 100% sure because one avenue of coursework isn’t applicable to today’s work environment. I need a diversity of learning in order to meet the challenging community problems I’m experiencing at NeighborLink, and I don’t feel like I should have to do multiple years of multiple programs to get that.

I’m also a little turned off by the reality that just about every university within a 60 mile radius of Fort Wayne basically offers the same programs. I’m wondering where competition through diversification went? Who’s doing the MBA with a Social Entrepreneurship angle? Where is the Community Development program? If NE Indiana is interested in retaining talent and making our region a beacon of innovation through making sure everyone is educated, then where are the innovative programs? I’ve found quite a few interesting programs in other parts of the country, but they’ll force me to move and if I move, there is a good chance that it will be a long time before I return and I may never come back. My family loves Fort Wayne and we don’t want to move. 

I know it can’t be all bad and it’s not completely due to a lack of caring. I adjunct at a local university and I know that it’s not an easy fix. I also know that I don’t know everything about every university within a 2 hour drive, nor do I have time to invest in researching everyone. 

This is where you come in. What ideas do you have? What innovative business, nonprofit, and/or community development oriented programs exist? What is the most valuable thing you learned from your experiences? If you found a program in another state that was commutable, what was it?