Degree ROI Calculator
The financial return on a degree or qualification — tuition plus the earnings given up while studying, against the salary uplift over a working life — with the payback year, the lifetime gain and the uplift that would merely break even.
A qualification costs twice: the fees, and the salary not earned during the years of study.
How the degree roi calculator works
A qualification costs twice: the fees, and the salary not earned during the years of study. It pays back through a higher salary every year after, for as many working years as remain. Payback is the total cost over the annual uplift; the lifetime gain is the uplift times the years, less the cost, optionally discounted so that money thirty years out counts for less. The break-even uplift is the salary difference that would only just cover the cost.
Formula: cost = fees + forgone salary × years; payback = cost / uplift; gain = uplift × working years − cost
Worked examples
| Inputs | Payback (years after graduating) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| A three-year degree, 17,000 uplift | 10.24 | pays back in about ten years |
| A one-year masters | 7.3 | a faster payback |
| A small uplift | 58 | a long road |
FAQFrequently asked questions
What does a degree really cost?
The fees, and the years of full salary not earned while studying — which for a three-year degree is usually the larger part. Part-time study or working while studying cuts the second cost.
How big is the graduate uplift?
It varies enormously by field: large for engineering, medicine and computing, small or negative for some others once the cost is counted. Use the salaries for your field and region, not a national average.
Why discount future earnings?
Because money in thirty years is worth less than money now — it could have been invested, and the future is uncertain. Two to four per cent is a reasonable personal discount rate.
What about non-financial value?
Interest, options, status, a career you could not otherwize enter — all real, none in this arithmetic. This page answers the financial question only.
Does a loan change the picture?
Interest on tuition debt adds to the cost; income-contingent repayment schemes change the timing but not the total. Add the expected interest to the fees field.
Where these figures come from
- Brysbaert (2019), Journal of Memory and Language — How many words do we read per minute? — the 238 wpm silent reading rate, from 190 studies
- US Department of Education — the federal education department
Last checked: September 2026. Reading and writing rates are from published meta-analyses, cited on the page.