A BA is now the equivalent of what a high school diploma was when I was young (I went to college in the 1970s). An MA is not even equivalent to a BA.

People have had it drilled into them that they need a four year degree to be successful. As a result, more and more people went to four year schools and more and more got BAs and then, MAs as a BA was no longer enough. Now, an MA is no longer enough.

I didn't get an MA until I was 51 (that's when I finished it). I did not go for one in the '70s as the programs were extremely rigorous in my field (literature). It was less stringent in 2000, and even less stringent now. My MA grad students would not make it through the program I had to complete. I have students who ask me why I don't have PhD as I am "more knowledgeable" than their lit profs who do have PhDs. I have two grads students file complaints because I grade too hard, but the fact is that they were not up to the even the relaxed rigors of getting an MA.

I can't speak for other fields, but considering I teach composition and get students in those classes who major in a plethora of fields, I can't think other fields are any better.

To play the Devil's advocate, why should employers pay more when there is a glut of degreed people looking for jobs?

Just sayin'.

And many students should not go for a four year degree, but go to technical schools and learn a trade.