October 22, 2021
We Calculated Return On Investment For 30,000 Bachelor’s Degrees. Find Yours.
October 22, 2021
Photo by javier trueba on Unsplash
Our paper Is College Worth It? A Comprehensive Return-on-Investment Analysis calculates estimated earnings and lifetime return-on-investment (ROI) for nearly 30,000 bachelor’s degree programs across America. Browse the table below to find earnings and ROI data for your college and major.
Click here to open the table in a new tab.
Definitions
- Earnings at Age 25: Estimated median earnings of program graduates who received federal financial aid, at the age of 25.
- Earnings at Age 45: Estimated median earnings of program graduates who received federal financial aid, at the age of 45.
- ROI (Before Completion Adjustment): The amount that a student can expect to see his or her earnings increase thanks to the college degree, subtracting the direct and indirect costs of college, and assuming on-time graduation.
- ROI (After Completion Adjustment): The amount that a student can expect to see his or her earnings increase thanks to the college degree, subtracting the direct and indirect costs of college, and accounting for the risk that the student will drop out before finishing the degree.
- ROI (Adjusting for Completion and Underlying Spending): The amount that a student can expect to see his or her earnings increase thanks to the college degree, subtracting the full underlying cost of college before subsidies, and accounting for the risk that the student will drop out before finishing the degree.
Read more about how we calculated ROI in the full paper and the methodology.
Click here to download the full ROI dataset. Journalists and researchers are encouraged to make use of the data. Please attribute to the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity.