Vocations · Professional Development · Education and pay

When does the
degree pay
for itself?

Put the degree against the job you could start today. The calculator counts the price and the pay you give up while studying, then the extra pay after, and finds the year the degree comes out ahead.

Find my break-even yearWhat you get

The degree return calculator

The worked example is a made-up accounting degree at a public university. Nothing you type leaves this browser.

Loading the calculator. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Vocations · Professional DevelopmentFree

What you finish with
The full cost of the degree, the extra earnings after it, the break-even year, the lifetime net gain and the return in today’s dollars, with a year-by-year table. It prints for a family conversation and downloads as a spreadsheet.
Who it is for
High school and college students choosing a program, families weighing the cost, and adults deciding whether to go back for a degree.
Format
Browser calculator for a phone, tablet or computer, by touch or keyboard. Prints a summary; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); export and import a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Professional Development space in Caveat Vocations.
Support
Questions, a correction or a request: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Find the net price on the college’s net price calculator.
  2. Type the years and what you would earn while studying.
  3. Type the pay you could earn now without the degree.
  4. Look up typical starting pay for the program.
  5. Read the break-even year, then try a second program.

Find my break-even year

How the return is worked out

Two paths for the same person, compared year by year.

The worked example: a four-year accounting degreeIn school$172,243net price + pay given upFirst year after+$16,733more than the other pathBreak-evenYear 10running total back to 035 working years$839,451ahead, before taxThe worked example: a four-year accounting degreeIn school$172,243net price + pay given upFirst year after+$16,733more than the other pathBreak-evenYear 10running total back to 035 working years$839,451ahead, before tax
The degree costs money twice while you study: the price, and the pay you are not earning. It pays back from the first year after graduating.

The cost is more than tuition

Economists count a degree’s cost as the net price plus the pay you give up while studying, the opportunity cost. For a four-year degree the pay given up is often larger than the price. Grants lower the net price; loans do not, and their interest adds to the cost.

Break-even and return

After graduating, each year’s gain is the pay with the degree less the pay on the other path, which has kept getting raises. Break-even is the first year the running total is back to zero. The return discounts every year to today’s dollars, since a dollar in twenty years is worth less than one now.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Education. College Scorecard: costs and median earnings by field of study (collegescorecard.ed.gov).
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Education pays: earnings and unemployment rates by educational attainment (bls.gov/emp/chart-unemployment-earnings-education.htm).
  3. Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. A First Try at ROI: Ranking 4,500 Colleges (cew.georgetown.edu).
  4. Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity. Is College Worth It? A comprehensive return on investment analysis (freopp.org).

The worked example is made up. This is a planning estimate before tax and without loan interest; real earnings vary by field, region and person. Your entries stay in this browser. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.