<p>No.</p>
<p>You may make lots of money, particularly if you get an engineering PhD and go into industry. You might even make six figures.</p>
<p>Chances are, you won’t make much more than you would with an MS and you’ll take a lot longer to do it. Don’t listen to the myth of getting your PhD in 3-4 years: Nature released a report (I think in 2009) that shows that most science PhD students spend, on average, 6-8 years completing their PhDs. There wasn’t a single field that dipped below the 6-year line as far as average time to degree went. You may take 5, if you are lucky. That’s 3-4 years that you COULD be earning a master’s level salary that you are forfeiting - let’s say that you could’ve earned 70K, you are forfeiting $210-280K. (And that’s assuming that you don’t borrow ANY money during your PhD years).</p>
<p>Not only that, but the Nature report also noted that 1-3 years after graduation, only around 20% of PhD holdes in the sciences or engineering were in full-time, non-tenured non-faculty positions (industry). Less than 30% were full-time tenured or tenure-track faulty. It seems that about half go to post docs (45%) or part-time work, likely adjuncts (5%).</p>
<p>Evidence:</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110420/full/472276a/box/4.html]Education:”>Latest science news, discoveries and analysis]Education:</a> The PhD factory: Nature News<a href=“PhDs%20in%20science%20in%20the%20U.S.%20make%20about%20the%20same%20amount%20as%20master’s%20degree%20holders%20in%20science”>/url</a></p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110420/full/472276a/box/3.html]Education:”>Latest science news, discoveries and analysis]Education:</a> The PhD factory: Nature News<a href=“avg%20time%20to%20degree;%20where%20they%20end%20up”>/url</a></p>