<prompt> Human: The facts:So my grad school Library Science program is being discredited. My programs committee put in an appeal with the American Library Association ALA to get it back in good standing. Neither the committee nor the ALA will tell me why it is getting discredited frustrating!, and I will not find out until January 2016 if the ALA decides to give our program its accreditation standing back. They tell us that if we graduate by summer of 2017 then my degree will be considered accredited.I can only take 6 credit hours each semester 3 in the summer as I work full time. Also, my job only pays for 75 of my tuition for only up to 6 credit hours a semester. I already have 15 hours earned in this program, and I need a total of 39. So graduating by summer of 2017 is doable for me, but, if their appeal isnt approved, Im worried that even if my degree is considered accredited that graduating from discredited school will still look badly to potential employers. Also, Im now also worried about the educationtraining I currently am receiving.Im seeking advice on what my next move should be. Do I transfer to another school and try to transfer as many credits as I can? This means I will lose my tuition discount from my job and would have to take out a loan. Or do I stick it out in my current program, and save money despite the questionable education? Any serious advice would be greatly appreciated.Thank youAssistant: Check out how many credit hours the other universities in your area will allow you to transfer in if you switch over. In many cases the limit is 15, which means if you wait until January to transfer, you may have to retake 6 credit hours. But it probably still makes more financial sense for you to wait until January before you make a decision, especially considering your job is funding so much of your tuition. Library science is really a tough field to get into, so even if your school is fully accredited, your chances of landing a job that pays enough to repay the significant student loans you might have to take out are rather low.Human: Most of the ones Im looking into only take 6 to 9 so thats a major bummer. And, library science IS a hard field to get into. But, I do have some connections. Plus, A LOT of employees are now at the age of retirement so I predict a pretty substantial increase in open jobs in the near future. Thanks for you advice.Assistant: A LOT of employees are now at the age of retirement so I predict a pretty substantial increase in open jobs in the near future.So youre right, undergrad credit transfers are in the 15 range, whereas grad school is 6-9 and 9 is usually pushing it. However, please please do not make career decisions based on predicted retirements. Years ago,, it was predicted that there would be massive retirements at universities because all the professors who got jobs during the flourishing period of the 60s-70s would be retiring. Those who were academically inclined went for the Ph.D. with glee because everyone was singing the tune that there were guaranteed jobs at the end. The reality could not be further from that dream.Universities realized they could hire adjuncts to teach the same classes and pay them only a fraction of the salary and skimp on the benefits. This is happening in libraries too--especially as budgets are being cut. As someone who is also working on my MLIS, I am actively branching out my skill set and looking at IT jobs because realistically the librarian field is not looking good. At all.Human: Im not making career decisions based on that, its just a positive. I actually really like the profession. Also of my classes are also geared toward technology, so Im not shooting myself in the foot so to speak. Thanks for the advice :  <response>: its just a positiveWhat Im trying to say is its not a positive because there isnt any evidence that its happening or set or happen. To throw in some stats, the Occupational Outlook Handbook notes that theres 148,400 librarian positions in the US with a projected growth rates of 7 over 10 years. That adds up to an added 10,388 jobs over 10 years--that would be adding 1038 jobs per year. If you scroll down here youll see stats gathered on the graduating classes from accredited MLIS programs. In 2010, there were almost 7,000 MLIS graduates--again, the field is projected to add just over 1000 jobs per year. So you would need 6,000 retirements, year over year just to break even, which over 10 years would be 40 of the work force. Thats a pretty high retirement rate--even for a field that is stereotypically geriatric. And even then, to assume that every one of those will be replaced is being rather optimistic. 