Sep 02, 2016 08:25 AM EDT By Emily Marks, UniversityHerald Reporter

There are a lot of benefits that can come with finishing graduate studies. However, you should make sure that you are ready financially about going to graduate school.

According to Mint, there are a lot of reasons to go to graduate school. Further studies may open a lot of opportunities to your dream job or it may increase your chances for a promotion and a raise but it is also costly. The publication shared four questions that one should ask before deciding to go to graduate school.

1. "Do I need a graduate degree for my career?"

Learn more about the career opportunities of your dream job. Do you need a graduate degree to achieve it? Doctors, lawyers and academics generally need enough expertise for their field and further studies can help equip them for that. For other high level jobs, getting relevant work experience is enough.

2. "Will graduate school give me a salary bump?"

Ask yourself how a graduate degree will affect your salary after completion. For those in the government or health services industry, an advanced degree can open opportunities that pay you about 50 percent more. Inversely, higher degree-holders in agriculture actually have jobs that pay less.

3. "What does graduate school cost - both in money and time?"

While there are a lot of perks once you finish your graduate degree, it's also important to think about what it will cost you along the way. Tuition usually ranges from $30,000 to a whopping $120,000. There are also the costs of books, fees as well as rooms or boards. Be mindful also of what you need to give up to attend graduate school.

4. "Are there better alternatives?"

There are several other options to traditional grad school available today. Online education is providing a new approach to learning by helping working adults finish their degrees. Harvard Business School's HBX CORe program is the institution's online education platform that incorporates the flexibility of online learning with a deadline-driven and community-based environment.

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