Many students have expressed anxious feelings about deciding to go for an MS to the US given the current situation of financial institutions in the country. The financial situation inside the country has not been the best as compared to the last few years. In fact in many ways, its similar to the situation which was present in the 1987 economic slow down. However, many the dent caused will be felt slowly across many sectors. The first and primary harm is caused to the banks. Hence, a job in he financial sector is hard to come by - not too hard though as banks still need to operate and still need talented people - however, investment banking as we knew it will be changed for ever after the dust has settled from the current crisis. (Just a Note: the IT departments within the banks would be the last to shut - as they operate the mission critical aspects of trading and hence would be the last department to shut before a bank shuts down)

Those institutions will also feel the pinch which rely on credit in terms of paper currency. As a lot less of credit/loans will now be available. So, the big corporations such as Cisco, Oracle, Microsoft, Google will all keep moving forward without a huge amount of hassle - as they are all cash rich. Smaller companies needing paper money to grow might be hit. Some of the big players also rely on paper money to raise capital - such as IBM and telecom operators. The degree to which they will be affected will also rely on a bunch of other factors.

A few such factors are things such as average consumer spending which has declined in the latest reports. Things like this hit the entire spectrum of industries. Less availability of loans also means that heavy investment-requiring industries like GreenTech might also become a victim. But regardless, hiring and firing is part and parcel of corporate America and is looked upon as just another thing that happens - its a culture different from many other countries. For example, Nvidia is going to lay off over 300 people - because of factors like bad pricing, etc - apart from the current economic slowdown.

But here is another way to look at it - by the time most of the current MS aspirants are done with their Masters - in 2011 - the economy would be looking up again - or be at the end of its current crunch zone and would be the right time to join the job market. In fact, a recession is the best time to join school!! Although, its true that funding at universities might also grow less as compared to previous years, it (MS) will surely be an investment which is soon be recovered in this cyclic world economy.