>>12525649Depends on the field, to be honest.
Im in clinical psychology. As an MA in my field and in my state I have all of the economic and job opportunities a PhD including research, teaching, and clinical work.
I’ve compared the different MA, MS, and PhD program requirements for all of the APA accredited programs in my state. The essential difference between coursework requirements are that a PhD must complete ~4 additional semester long classes. Their dissertation is also expected to be longer (though I’ve seen MA theses which are quite long). There is a significant difference in clinical hours needed for licensure though; an MA must complete roughly twice as many supervised hours of practice for licensure.
You shouldn’t think of degrees in terms of what people know. It’s just the amount of classes they’ve taken. You can find the textbook requirements for PhD programs and read them yourself. You can access research databases and study things you’re interested in. You can and should continue learning throughout life, but school is not necessary for it.
