@brian_gettler@histodons@academicchatter I like Chapnick's line of thought, but I wonder about the practicality of the workload and the timeline. I did my MA in Canada and then moved to a combined MA/PhD program in the US (as an older student, as well) that discouraged terminal masters degrees, and I'm not certain one year to set yourself up as either terminal MA or PhD is enough. Discouraging unfunded PhD applicants is practical, yes, but seems deadly for diversity of ideas and experiences.
@jconnellstryker@histodons@academicchatter I agree the proposals are not all practical. My institution grants terminal MAs but it actively discourages 2-year degrees. We have no indication that taking an additional year (nearly all of our MAs are 1-year) affects employment outcomes, while leading some students to disconnect entirely in the 2nd year, something can lead to failure to finish.
Re: PhD: IMO we need to push for increased packages for all admissions, regardless of external funding.
You would have to ask somebody who wrote for MA in my program how it really felt to do that and then continue on to PhD, but being friendlier to dipping out after 2 years with an MA seems like a good thing to me. Maybe even actively working to encourage (and accept) transfers to finish the PhD elsewhere after a 2-year MA would be a good idea, to encourage broader institutional experience?
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