Is College Worth It? Here’s the Return on Investment for 6 Popular Majors
Written by
Chris Adam
Edited by
Daria Uhlig
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Sometimes decisions people make in their younger years have big impacts on the rest of their lives. The choice of a college major is one of those decisions. Not only can it determine how you earn a living for the next 45 years or so, it can also affect how much you earn.
The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity recently looked at the return on investment for almost 30,000 bachelor’s degrees, first calculating how much the degrees increased lifetime earnings and then subtracting college costs.
It found that the median return for an on-time grad is $306,000, but actual ROIs vary significantly depending on major.
The study showed that almost three-quarters of undergraduate programs yield a positive ROI. “While that means higher education is still a decent bet on average, a large minority of programs do not pay off,” the report noted.
Here’s what the median ROI looks like for six popular majors:
- Engineering: $949,255
- Computer Science: $652,391
- Nursing: $618,709
- Economics: $548,594
- Business and Finance: $257,991
- Fine Arts: -$88,505
Of course, students of many ages have lots of options besides bachelor’s degrees, and the Foundation looked at returns for those alternatives, too. For example, two-year degrees in liberal arts have no ROI. Certificates in the technical trades can have a higher payoff than the typical bachelor’s degree.
The news is mixed when it comes to master’s degrees. According to the report, 43% of master’s degrees leave students financially worse off. But if you pursue a professional degree in law, medicine or dentistry, you may find an extremely lucrative outcome.
Federal Funding
The study also looked at how much federal grants and loans pay for college degrees that have negative ROIs. It found that between 2018 and 2022, the federal government provided $418 billion for college programs included in the study. About 29% of it paid for programs with negative ROIs.
Keep in mind that many experts say ROI is not the only factor students and families should consider when deciding about college and majors. Personal fulfillment and impact have value, too. But a college degree isn’t the only way to achieve that. Trade and other programs that don’t require a degree can pay off very well, and in far less time.
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