New Validated Insights Report: Market for Master’s Degree Programs Shows Growth, Along with Mixed Signals

The majority of prospective master’s students want an online program according to a new report from Validated Insights.

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to the newly released report from higher education marketing and research firm Validated Insights, enrollment in, and demand for master’s degree programs is trending upward. However, growth is not evenly distributed and there are obstacles to future growth.

Among many key findings, the report shows that completions of master’s degrees are projected to grow at a 1.9% compound annual growth rate, and will surpass one million in the 2027-28 academic year. While enrollment growth is not projected to proceed on quite the same growth trajectory, online enrollment is projected to grow at a 3.8% compound annual growth rate from Fall 2025 to Fall 2030. Meanwhile, on-campus enrollment will decline, and online enrollment is estimated to surpass on-campus enrollment in 2025.

71% of institutional leaders reported an uptick in demand for online graduate programs in 2024. However, just 40% of institutional leaders indicated that their online graduate programs were contributing to growth, which illustrates that not all are gaining students despite the larger picture.

Other data points from the report:

• From 2022-24, the number of master’s degree programs in the United States increased by 2.4% to 42,346 master’s programs.
• From 2022-24, the average number of enrollments per program decreased by 6.0% to just 94 students, while the average number of new enrollees per program fell by 4.4%, to just 20 students.
• Conversely, the average number of completions per program grew 4.5%, rising to 22.

Some potential barriers to growth were also identified in the report including the recent decline in the number of international students in the United States. Foreign nationals make up about 17% of master’s degree students, however recent changes to immigration policies and enforcement and other concerns led to a drastic drop in new international master’s enrollments in Fall 2025. As a result, 64,000 fewer international master’s students than projected will be enrolled at American institutions in 2025-26.

Another potential barrier to growth is the changes to the federal student loan options for graduate students that were enacted as a part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The report identifies certain master’s degree fields like Public Health, Social Work, Physician Assistant (PA), and Nurse Practitioner (NP) that are most likely to be impacted by the changes.

“There’s absolutely good news for master’s programs. A substantial amount of interest in master’s degrees remains untapped in the market, and commitment to enrolling is growing,” said Brady Colby, Head of Market Research at Validated Insights. “But it would be a mistake to imply or project smooth sailing. Forecasts of zero growth and even declines in total enrollments, coupled with the increases in number of programs, means programs are getting, and continue to keep getting smaller. This could strain these programs and the schools that provide them.”

Not unlike other education markets, the report also shows that potential enrollees in master’s programs are sensitive to cost. According to the report,

“The median price prospective master’s degree students are willing to pay annually for their studies is about $17,000. Just one in twenty prospective students is willing to pay more than $50,000.”

“What you have, in other words, is a market where domestic enrollment in master’s degrees has been declining but intention and commitment is now growing as people seek economic safety,” Colby said. “Given the uncertainty about the labor market, prospective students want to attend, but they require a specific combination of quality, cost, flexibility, and ROI in a potential program, meaning growth is distributed across institutions.”

Validated Insights publishes detailed reports and facts about higher education on LinkedIn at Higher Ed News by VI. Recent reports include trade school enrollments, online program management companies (OPM), MBA programs, nursing education, AI education, and computer science programs.

About Validated Insights


Validated Insights is an agile marketing agency specializing in helping higher education institutions achieve and exceed their goals. With a comprehensive suite of services, including digital marketing, paid search, paid social, and web strategy, Validated Insights delivers data-driven strategies and measurable results. The agency's agile testing approach enables short- and long-term growth through better creative, strategy, media execution and continuous brand building. Validated Insights is the only agency in the higher education space to offer a performance guarantee in KPIs in the first 60 days - and continuous growth beyond that. Learn more at validatedinsights.com.