ROI Calculator

What this does

The ROI Calculator answers one question: if you earn this degree at this school and go into this career, how long until the extra pay covers what the degree cost? You pick a school, a degree program and a career. The calculator then lays out 20 years, side by side: your money with the degree, and your money if you had gone to work instead.

The result is a year-by-year table, two line charts and a break-even year: the first year in which the extra earnings from the degree have paid back the cost of the degree. You get that year twice, once in plain dollars and once after inflation.

It helps:

• Students who want to see whether a program pays back, and how fast, before they apply or borrow.
• Parents who want to test the cost side: in-state or out-of-state tuition, savings and scholarships, a bigger or smaller loan, a longer repayment term.
• Counselors who want to put two or three options through the same assumptions, or show a student how much a career choice, not just a school choice, moves the answer.

Everything is an estimate built from public data. It is a way to ask better questions, not a forecast of your own life.

Before you start

• Pick your state. The calculator needs a state. If none is chosen, the page shows a prompt to pick one in Showing data for at the top of the page. Pick the state where the school is. The school list, the degree search, the city rent tables, tuition and wages all follow that choice. The page text uses your state's name: for example, the residency option reads your state's name followed by resident (in-state).
• Have a school or a degree in mind. You can start from either. If you only know the subject (nursing, accounting), start with the degree search and let it show you which schools offer it.
• Know whether you will pay in-state or out-of-state tuition. This is the biggest single cost switch on the page.
• Have rough numbers ready for savings or scholarships, and any money you expect to earn during school. They are optional; the calculator runs with zeros.
• Only schools with published in-state tuition appear in the school list. If your school is missing, it may be on Schools without tuition data.
• You do not need an account. Signing in is only for saving a run to My Reports. See Saved reports.

Step by step

The page is a form in four numbered steps (with an extra step for graduate programs), then the results below it.

1. Under Study Plan (Step 1), set Degree level to All, Undergraduate or Graduate. This narrows the programs you will see later.
2. Optionally set University type (Public, Private, Community College, For Profit). The school list below shrinks to match.
3. Set Residency: in-state (your state's name followed by resident (in-state)) or Out-of-state / non-resident.
4. Choose a school. Either click in University and type part of its name (a dropdown of up to 30 matches opens; click one), or click a school's tile in the Universities list. Each tile shows the name, city and school type. Once you pick, the list collapses to your school and Step 2 opens.
5. Or, instead of steps 4 and 5, type at least two letters of a subject in the degree search box (Or search by degree across all … universities, with your state's name). A dropdown lists matching programs, each with its school and city. Click one: the calculator selects that school and that program for you and goes straight to Step 3.
6. Under Degree Program (Step 2), find your program in the list of chips, or narrow it with Search programs offered at this university. Each chip shows the program name, its credential level and how many people graduate from it a year. Click the chip.
7. If you picked a master's or doctoral program, a Prior Education step (2½) appears. Leave Graduate degree only selected, or choose Stack with a … undergrad degree — show combined ROI and pick the earlier degree (see the controls table).
8. Under Career / Occupation (Step 3), wait for Computing outcomes… to finish. Careers this program leads to appear in up to four tables, each with median and entry pay. Click Drill down → on the career you want.
9. Outcome Overview (Step 4) opens with the career's pay, its pathway, its projected growth, the AI Outlook, and the school's annual tuition. The career list in Step 3 folds away; + Show list brings it back.
10. In the Financing box, enter Own savings / scholarships ($), change Loan repayment term (years) if you like, and add any In-school earnings. Leave Manual tuition loan (blank = auto) empty to let the calculator size the tuition loan. Living costs during school that your earnings and savings don't cover are borrowed on top of it.
11. In the Living Expenses box, keep Include living expenses, choose a Rent (during school) option and a Living expenses (food, transit, etc.) level, and optionally pick a During-school city and Post-graduation city. The Monthly total (rent + living): line updates as you go.
12. In the Assumptions box, pick a Scenario and adjust Annual raise (%), Promotion bump (%) and Promotion years if you want.
13. Click Run 20-Year Projection. The button reads Calculating… while it works. The results appear below the form and the page scrolls to them.
14. Read Incremental ROI Summary first: it holds the break-even year for each scenario. Then open Scenario Comparison and Year-by-Year Breakdown for the detail.
15. To try a change, edit any input and click Recalculate (in the Assumptions Used card) or Run 20-Year Projection again.
16. To keep the run in My Reports, click ☆ Save this report at the bottom right. It turns to ★ Saved. If you are signed out, the same button reads Sign in to save and opens the sign-in dialog; after you sign in, reload the calculator, run the projection again and save it.

Arriving with your choice already made

Several pages link into the calculator with part of the form filled in:

• Calculate ROI → next to a school on a career's detail page, and the calculator links on comparison results for careers, open the calculator with the school, degree, level and career all chosen. Steps 1 to 3 are replaced by a short summary (Career, Degree, University) and the page scrolls to Step 4. You check the inputs and click Run 20-Year Projection. ↺ Change selection brings Steps 1 to 3 back.
• Calculate ROI → on a degree's detail page, Open in ROI calculator on degree comparisons, and the program chips on a school's program page choose the school, degree and level. The career is left to you, and the page says: Degree and university are prefilled. Select a career below, then drill down to run the ROI calculator. Graduate links open at level Graduate.
• Run the numbers for this degree → on the Degrees page types the degree's name into the degree search for you, so its dropdown opens.
• Run the numbers → on the Careers page adds a line above the degree search, Suggested career for Step 3: followed by the career's name. Nothing is selected; it is a reminder for when you reach Step 3.
• A saved run from My Reports reopens with the school, degree, level and career chosen and calculates straight away (see Common questions).

If a link points to a school or program the calculator cannot find, you see Could not prefill the selected university from compare results. or Could not find the selected degree program at this university. and can pick by hand.

Every control explained

Reading the results

How the projection works, in plain words

The calculator follows two people for 20 years. One goes to school for the length of the program and then works in your chosen career. The other starts work in year 1 without the degree. Each year it subtracts loan payments and living costs from each person's income and records the difference. That difference is the Incremental Net. Adding those differences up year by year, and subtracting the part of the degree's cost you pay without borrowing (savings, scholarships or in-school earnings), gives Cumulative ROI. The part paid with the tuition loan is not subtracted again: it is already counted through the loan payments, interest included. The break-even year is the first year after graduation in which that running total reaches zero.

While you are in school, the rent and living costs that your in-school earnings and leftover savings or scholarships don't cover are borrowed on the degree path. They are added to your loan, build up interest until you graduate, and are repaid with the tuition loan. The person without the degree pays the same living costs from wages. So a cheaper or dearer place to live during school changes your debt, your monthly payment, the Incremental Net, the Cumulative ROI and can move the break-even year. After graduation both people pay the same rent and living costs, so the post-graduation city changes the Net columns but not the comparison.

Step 3: the career tables

If the program has no linked careers you see No career mapping is available for this degree program yet.

Step 4: Outcome Overview

Incremental ROI Summary

How this projection handles inflation sits under the grid. It states the yearly rate for living costs (from the BLS Consumer Price Index, average of the last five years, or 3% when that is not available) and the 5% yearly tuition rate. What These Terms Mean repeats the definitions above in full sentences.

If you drilled into a senior role, a banner above the results reads Modeled as …, the typical entry path to …. It explains that year 1 uses the entry-level role's pay and that raises and promotions grow it from there.

Assumptions Used

A record of everything the run used: Projection Horizon (20 years), Scenario Selection, Scenario Rates, Promotion Timing, Own Savings, Loan Amount Input (Auto from tuition minus savings or your figure), Loan Term, Loan Interest Rate (the rate the run used, for example 6.53% a year, with its source and school year; read-only), In-School Earnings by year, College Scorecard Inputs (in-state and out-of-state tuition, books and supplies, average net price, median debt, and Residency used:), Occupation Salary Inputs (source year, area, confidence, reason, method), Housing Assumption, Housing City and Housing Figures Used (rent, living and total per month). Check it before you share a result.

Scenario Comparison (the charts)

A colour key names each scenario (blue for User-Entered Rates, amber for Conservative, green for Optimistic). Cumulative Incremental ROI plots the running Cumulative ROI for years 1 to 20; the point where a line crosses zero is the break-even year. Annual Incremental Net plots each year's Incremental Net: below zero in the school years, then rising after graduation, with a dip while loans are repaid. Both use dollars on the side axis and years 1, 5, 10, 15 and 20 along the bottom.

Year-by-Year Breakdown

With one scenario the table is titled Year-by-Year Incremental ROI Breakdown and has 20 rows:

With Simulate all three the table is titled Scenario Comparison Table and shows, for each scenario, an Incremental and a Cumulative ROI column.

Rent and living costs

• City rents are HUD Fair Market Rents for a one-bedroom home, in 2023 dollars. In Texas the list is the state's metro table for 2023. In every other state the list holds the cities where your state's schools are, at the latest year the price index covers, converted to 2023 dollars; a city with no college is not listed.
• Student adjustment. Fair Market Rents describe a typical renter. Students tend to rent cheaper places, so city rent is multiplied by 0.82, during school and after graduation alike; the hints, ↳ Post-grad: included, show the adjusted figure and say student-adjusted.
• Dorm uses the school's reported room and board (it includes meals) divided by twelve. Shared apartment is half of market rent.
• Auto living costs start from a basic-needs budget for the school's area, take out housing, and scale the rest (food, transportation, health care, personal) down to a student budget. When that budget is missing, $800 a month is used.
• Living costs rise each year by the living-cost inflation rate.

Cards at the bottom

• Currently Active in … (your state's name): Currently N active postings in … with the date range, Top metros: and Top employers:, from the site's sample of public job postings. It shows only when at least 30 postings match the career.
• Salary Comparison: Posted vs BLS vs ROI Model: a Source / Median table with Modeled — Year 1 entry salary (this calculator's projection) (your first working year's pay after graduation, the same figure as the first Post-grad row of the Year-by-Year table), the OEWS median for your state (or the first listed metro area), May 2024, and the median pay advertised in active postings when at least 30 of them list pay. Sentences compare them (for example Posted salaries are in line with the BLS median. and Modeled Year 1 salary is …% of the BLS median).
• Could Housing Choices Improve ROI?: shown when break-even is later than year 10 or never. Three cards (With parents during school, Shared housing throughout, With parents during school + shared after) each show a break-even year and the rents used. Cheaper housing during school means less to borrow, so a card can show an earlier break-even year than your main result.

Stacked runs

With a stack, the View by degree tabs appear. Each degree's tab shows that degree's full results, run on its own with your shared inputs. The Combined Stack tab lists Total Degrees, Total Years in School and Total Education Cost (each degree's years and Education Cost added up), Target Career Salary (first working year's pay after the last degree) and each degree's break-even year, plus the Degree Stack path, the Career and one line per degree with its years in school and Education Cost.

For sources and methods across the site, see how the figures are produced.

Worked example

A parent in Ohio wants to know whether a nursing degree at a public university in the state pays back, for a daughter who will live in a dorm and has some scholarship money.

1. She sets Showing data for to Ohio. The page header and labels now name Ohio.
2. She sets Degree level to Undergraduate, sets University type to Public and keeps residency on in-state.
3. She types "nursing" into the degree search. A dropdown lists nursing programs at Ohio's public universities, the most-graduated first, each with school and city. She clicks the program at the school her daughter likes.
4. The school and program are now chosen, and Step 3 shows careers. A nursing career sits under Direct Careers with its pathway, a median and an entry salary in dollars a year. She clicks Drill down →.
5. Step 4 shows the two salaries, the pathway, a projected-growth figure for Ohio with the years in the label, an AI Outlook block, and the annual tuition with an in-state and an out-of-state price.
6. She enters the yearly scholarship total times four in Own savings / scholarships ($), leaves the loan on auto and the term at 10 years, and adds a modest summer-job figure to School year 2 and School year 3.
7. She keeps University dorm (default) and Auto. The monthly total shows a dollar figure per month, and the Auto hint says the dorm meals were taken out.
8. She sets Scenario to Simulate all three and clicks Run 20-Year Projection.
9. The summary shows the Education Cost in dollars, a loan amount and a monthly payment, the no-degree baseline, and three cards: each with a break-even year, an after-inflation year, and a Year 20 total in dollars. The Conservative card breaks even no sooner than the others.
10. The charts show three lines that dip below zero for the four school years, then climb; she reads where each crosses zero. The Scenario Comparison Table gives the same numbers year by year.
11. To see out-of-state pricing for a school across the border, she would change states and repeat. To compare a second Ohio school, she clears the school, picks another, and runs again with the same inputs.
12. Signed in, she clicks ☆ Save this report. The run is in My Reports and will reopen with this school, program, level and career, recalculated, with the other inputs back at their defaults.

Common questions

Why can't I find my school?

The list holds only schools in the state chosen in Showing data for that publish in-state tuition. Check the state, clear University type, and try the degree search. Schools without tuition data are listed on Schools without tuition data. If you pick a school that turns out to have no program rows, the page says This school is listed in the source data, but it has no degree-program rows for the calculator yet. and removes it for this visit.

What happens with out-of-state tuition when the school doesn't publish it?

The Out-of-state tuition button reads not available. The calculator does not swap in the in-state price. With residency set to out-of-state, the tuition box opens under the prices with Out-of-state tuition isn't published for this school., and the run button reads Enter Tuition To Continue until you type the yearly out-of-state tuition (from the school's own website, for example). Or switch to in-state, or choose another school. A figure left in the box is not used once you switch back to in-state. Private schools usually charge everyone the same, and the page then shows one price with (same for all residencies — private institutions don't charge by state).

Why does a salary or a rate show "—"?

The source has no figure for that career or school. A career with no pay figure cannot be projected (Projection Unavailable). A missing completion rate, retention rate or 10-year earnings only affects the summary, not the projection.

Why is there no projected-growth tile?

It appears only when your state or the U.S. projections cover that career. When your state has no figure, the U.S. figure is shown and the label says "the U.S.".

How do rent and living costs affect my result?

During school, the share of rent and living costs that your in-school earnings and leftover savings or scholarships don't cover is borrowed. A higher rent during school means a bigger loan, a higher monthly payment and a lower Cumulative ROI, and it can push the break-even year later. If the change is small, the break-even year may stay the same while the dollar figures move. After graduation both paths pay the same rent and living costs, so changing the Post-graduation city changes the Net columns but not the comparison.

Why are there two break-even years?

The first counts dollars as they are earned. The second, Real (today's $), first shrinks later years' gains by inflation, so it is the same or later. Treat the real year as the more cautious answer.

Why do two careers from the same degree give very different results?

The entry pay drives the projection, and careers differ a lot. Careers that need more study add school years (more cost, later start). Senior roles are started at their entry-level role's pay, so they look slower than their median suggests.

Can I change the loan interest rate or the 20-year horizon?

No. The rate is the federal Direct Loan rate for the 2024–25 school year, undergraduate or graduate (6.53% for undergraduates, 8.08% for graduate students); Assumptions Used shows it as Loan Interest Rate with its source. The horizon is fixed at 20 years. You can change the loan amount and the repayment term.

What does a saved run bring back?

Reopening a saved run restores the school, degree, level (including All) and career, and recalculates straight away. Every other input reopens at its default: residency (in-state), savings, loan amount and term, in-school earnings, rent and living costs, cities, scenario, raise, bump and promotion years. A stacked run reopens as a single run of the target graduate degree. If you ran with out-of-state tuition or different assumptions, set them again and click Recalculate.

Why do I see "Projection is unavailable for this career…"?

The career is in the list but has no pay data good enough to model. You can still read its pathway; pick another career to run a projection.

The city picker says "No cities found". Why?

Each state's list holds only cities with a college (Texas uses its metro table). Try a nearby larger city, or leave the box empty to use the school's own area.

What this does NOT do

• It is not advice. It is an estimate from public averages; your pay, costs and timing will differ.
• It does not use financial aid, net price or your family's finances, except the savings and scholarships you type in. Tuition is the published sticker price.
• It does not model dropping out, transferring, taking longer to finish, or time out of work.
• It does not count living costs after graduation against the degree: both paths pay them. Only living costs during school, which the degree path borrows, change the comparison.
• It does not let you change the loan interest rate, the no-degree pay, the tuition growth rate or the 20-year horizon.
• It is not a job board. Posting counts are a sample used to show the market, not openings to apply to.
• It stores nothing about you. Signing in is only needed to save a run; a saved run keeps the page address, not your inputs.
• A saved run does not keep residency, financing, living-cost or assumption settings.

Related

• Open the ROI Calculator
• Saved reports: signing in, saving a run, reopening it.
• Reading comparison results and Compare degrees: where many calculator links start.
• A career's detail page and A degree's detail page: the Calculate ROI → links.
• A school's programs
• Schools without tuition data
• Jobs Trends
• Choosing a state
• Privacy and limits