Each step takes ten seconds to get. Tap any step when you want the full detail.
STEP 1
Start with what graduates typically earn
Not the school's average — the earnings of graduates of your exact program, from federal data, over a working life. If your exact program does not have sufficient data as reported to the federal government, we use national averages for the major you are considering
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STEP 2
Subtract what you'd likely earn anyway
The degree only gets credit for the extra — above what you'd likely make without it, including the four years of wages you give up to attend.
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STEP 3
Subtract what it really costs you
The net price after scholarships and grants — plus the interest on every dollar you borrow to pay it.
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STEP 4
Count future dollars honestly
A dollar in 2060 is worth less than one today. We discount everything back to today's dollars, so every estimate is one comparable number.
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What that math turns up
SAME MAJOR, THREE SCHOOLS — TYPICAL VALUE OF AN ENGLISH DEGREE, TODAY'S DOLLARS
Flagship state · half scholarship
$484,000
Regional state · full ride
$324,000
Elite private · sticker price
$167,000
The famous name comes last — at sticker price, its cost eats the premium. A scholarship rewrites this completely, and switching the major to computer science flips the order outright. The program — and the price you actually pay, not the name on the gate — often decides.
One more honest benchmark: skip the degree, invest the $351k it would cost, and you'd have ≈ $3.24M at 65. A degree has to beat that too. This example uses real programs with school-level federal earnings data; where a program lacks it, the report says so and uses national medians for the major. Full methodology →