Pursuing a graduate degree in early childhood education is often a choice, not a professional prerequisite. Yet possessing a graduate degree offers the educational professional a significant set of advantages. The United States Department of Labor notes that some states do require teachers to obtain a Master's degree, and any aspiring educator who intends to work in a state with such requirements would have to undertake graduate studies. However, even for individuals whose careers will begin in states that do not demand one, a graduate degree can boost professionalism, enhance understanding of student needs, and pave the way for future opportunities in administration and educational policy. By raising the bar, teachers with graduate degrees encourage a higher level of standards across the board for all educational professionals.

             Graduate studies in education allow aspiring teachers to conduct their own qualitative and quantitative research, or at the very least to encounter scholastic research in the field of education. Such scholastic research illuminates the underlying reasons and causes for educational policy and curriculum choices. Those curricular and policy choices, from which books are selected as required reading to whether or not to teach intelligent design theory to the role of technology in education, begin with advances in scholastic educational research. Only through a rigorous program of graduate studies can a teacher encounter and critically analyze research in their areas of interest. Analyzing and critiquing scholastic research in education also arms the educational professional with valuable knowledge into research methodology. The graduate student also has the opportunity to participate in exciting research opportunities and to contribute to the growing body of literature in the scholastic community. There will always be gaps in the literature that can be readily filled by hungry minds, eager to learn and apply knowledge in new and promising ways.