How would the main character be thinking?

a.

professional degrees.

Explanation:

A professional degree is the kind of degree that aims at preparing someone to work in a particular profession, like in this case, medicine, law or business. Most commonly, a professional degree implies that the holder of the degree is certified to work in the field in question. These degrees can be, like in this case, graduate degrees, but, in some places it can also be a bachelor´s degree.