In this post, Information Technology Specialist Brittany Woods shares her experience pursuing a Master’s degree in Computer Science while working full-time. She went to school full-time while working both in the defense industry as well as in government directly. Turns out that working in the government directly makes going to school much more doable and that was a major incentive for Brittany to shift from her industry role at Booz Allen to her current government position.  

Pursuing a Master’s degree while working full-time in the defense industry (Booz Allen Hamilton)

I pursued a non-thesis MS degree in Computer Science at Wright State University. It took me 3 years exactly. When I was working at BAH, I was only going part-time (1 class at 3 CRHs per semester). However, I attended all year, so Fall, Spring, and Summer, which was a bit exhausting but it kept my workload manageable so I could still enjoy some free time through my week.

Me only going part-time like that is why I ultimately decided against a thesis. I didn’t want to drag my program out any longer as I felt very isolated/disconnected from my faculty and department. This led to some other issues I ended up having in regards to my paperwork and advising requirements since I kind of slipped through the cracks!

Being a part-time student and full-time employee really had a negative impact on my experience in that regard since going to school wasn’t my main focus.

Because I was so cut-off from everyone I was unaware of a lot of requirements needed for my graduation approval. Everything was rectified in the end, and I provided a lot of feedback to the department about my experience so they could improve, BUT being a part-time student and full-time employee really had a negative impact on my experience since going to school wasn’t my main focus.

Pursuing a Master’s degree while working full-time for the government 

Now, when I moved to a government position, I was able to attend full-time. This is because there were extra scholarships available in addition to employer funding and I was allowed to count my time spent in class as time worked on my time card. This alleviated stress and helped me better manage my work/life balance.

The government position allowed me to count my time spent in class as time worked on my time card!

I did have to agree to a 4-year commitment with the US Air Force to get them to pay off my FlexEd debt. (The debt here refers to the fact that Booz Allen’s support towards grad school meant you had to work for Booz a certain amount of time or you would owe them money.) Despite the 4-year commitment, this was ultimately a huge improvement for me. I think had I started in government I might have pursued a thesis and been more involved in my program.

The completion of my degree didn’t nab me a promotion since I’m on a developmental track. That means I have minimum training requirements each year but I get regular promotions from GG-09 through GG-12 so long as I hit them and meet all other expectations, but all of the time spent on my classes was considered for my training requirements.

I think ultimately getting my MS will prove fruitful once I start applying to competitive positions within my Division. 

Congrats, Brittany, for completing your Master’s degree!!

How much did grad school cost?

• It’s about $650/credit hour, so rounding up to account for any supplies, parking pass, extra fees, etc. I’d say around $21,000 at Wright State University

• It’s a 30 credit hour program

Hope that helps with your decision-making if you are contemplating doing a Master’s while working full-time! What are your thoughts? Share them in the comments!!

Before you go!

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