If you are getting admission to any college and you want to see if it’s worth investing time and money to get this degree, here is the college ROI calculator to help you make a wise decision.
College ROI Calculator
Why is this calculator important for students?
This tool is invaluable for students who are about to make decisions about their degree. It helps you choose a program that offers the best return on investment (ROI) for your future.
By using this calculator, you can compare your potential earnings over a career with the cost of your education, giving you a clear picture of the ROI you can expect from your investment.
I highly recommend this calculator because it empowers students to make informed decisions and select a career path with greater financial benefits.
How this calculator works:
First of all, let’s understand the input fields so that you can get accurate results.
Input Fields Explained:
Here are the fields along with their explanations:
- Total Cost of College: The total cost of the entire college program. Enter this amount here.
- Years to Graduate: The number of years it will take to complete your degree. While this field isn’t directly used in calculating ROI, it provides useful context.
- Expected Starting Salary: The annual salary you expect to earn right after graduation. You can start with the minimum salary for your field, as the growth rate will be added later.
- Annual Salary Growth Rate (%): The estimated annual percentage increase in your salary. Whether it’s 10%, 20%, or another value, enter an accurate growth rate that you expect to see over the years, as this will affect your total earnings.
- Work Years After Graduation: The number of years you plan to work after graduation.
How It Calculates ROI:
Once you click “Calculate ROI”, the following steps happen:
Initial Validation: It checks if all inputs are filled and are valid numbers.
Total Lifetime Earnings Estimation:
- Starts with the starting salary.
- Adds it to a running total.
- Increases the salary by the growth rate each year for the number of work years.
- The formula used:
- currentSalary *= 1 + growthRate
- Repeats this for all work years to calculate the total earnings after graduation.
ROI Calculation:
- Uses the formula: ROI = ((Total Earnings – College Cost) / College Cost) * 100
- This gives you a percentage return on investment in your college education.
Breakeven Time:
- This is the time it would take to recoup the cost of college using the starting salary.
- The formula: Breakeven Years = College Cost / Starting Salary
Output Displayed
Once the calculation is done, the following is shown:
- Estimated Total Lifetime Earnings
- ROI Percentage
- Breakeven Time in Years
How to calculate ROI of a college degree?
What college majors have the highest ROI?
Engineering: Majors like electrical, computer, and civil engineering typically lead to high-paying jobs.
Computer Science: As we know the next few trillionaires can be coders, thus computer science degree is highly valuable. Other than that, computer science graduates often find high-paying positions in software development, data science, and IT.
Business: Degrees in business, especially those focused on finance, management, and economics, often lead to lucrative careers. Or it can also help you become an entrepreneur.
These fields often lead to well-paying jobs and have a high ROI due to the strong demand for skilled professionals.