Why no terminal Masters

Why do certain colleges not award terminal MA/MS degrees? Is it because they're worried about losing the cheap labor of doctoral students? What if a student doesn't aspire to academia, but a BA/BS isn't enough education for their desired position?

There are no shortage of fields where a masters in generally considered enough. Engineering, Comp Sci, Law & Business come to mind. There is also no shortage of science fields where a BS is not that useful but a masters makes you very employable. So what's the difference if it is terminal or not?

I actually never thought about it before, there are jobs where you don't need a bachelors to succeed, many where it is enough and plenty where the masters really matters. Outside of academia and medicine, how many jobs does a Doctorate make a big difference?

I was mainly thinking about Social Sciences where you desire a Masters (for advancement purposes) but you don't want to be a professor, so a Ph.d is overkill, as you said.

My real question was why schools won't even admit a grad student who only wants the Masters.

Bumping to ask: would it be considered ethical to enter a Ph.d program, but leave once you've earned the Masters?

You need a doctorate (the juris doctor degree) to become a lawyer in the United States. Don't know about entering a Ph.D. program but intending to go no further than earning your masters degree - presumably they ask about that, or even ask for a written commitment to go all the way? Might be worth asking about at a school to which you don't intend to apply.

Thanks, this was purely an academic exercise. (Pun sorta intended). ;)