Which degree pays more?
Compare two degrees on cost, study duration, and projected lifetime earnings — using your own salary assumptions.
Calculator educationLogic updated April 2026
This calculator compares two degree options side by side over a shared horizon. Each degree has its own study duration, cost, starting salary, and salary growth rate. Both are assumed to start at year 1 of the projection — the calculator answers 'if I started either degree today, which delivers higher cumulative net earnings by a chosen future year?'.
How this is calculated
Formula
For each degree: years 1..studyDuration → −cost / studyDuration ; year n > studyDuration → startingSalary × (1+g)^(n − studyDuration − 1) ; cumulative gap = cumulative(A) − cumulative(B)Step-by-step
- For each degree, spread its total cost evenly across its study years (negative cashflow during study)
- After graduation, each degree starts earning at its own user-supplied starting salary
- Each year's salary grows at the degree's own user-supplied growth rate
- Calculate the cumulative net earnings (income minus the negative cashflow during study) for each degree at each year
- Subtract Degree B's cumulative from Degree A's to get the running gap
- Identify break-even (the first year where cumulative leadership flips between degrees) — null if one path leads throughout
- Rounding mode
- ROUND_HALF_UP
- Precision
- 20-digit internal precision (Decimal.js), rounded to 2 decimal places for display
- Logic last reviewed
Assumptions & limitations
What this calculator assumes
- Modelling tool — projections reflect the user's own salary assumptions
- Each degree grows at its own user-supplied annual salary growth rate
- Each degree cost is amortised evenly across that degree's study years
- Both degrees are assumed to start at year 1 of the projection
- No taxation, no jurisdictional repayment thresholds
What this calculator doesn’t account for
- Salary inputs are user-supplied — the calculator can't validate them
- Doesn't model field-specific salary distributions (averages can mask wide variability)
- Doesn't include non-financial differences between the degrees
- Doesn't account for relative completion rates or employment outcomes
- Doesn't model the impact of starting one degree later (both are assumed to start at year 1)
Worked example
A student compares Degree A (3 years, $60,000 cost, $55,000 starting salary, 3% growth) vs Degree B (4 years, $90,000 cost, $75,000 starting salary, 4% growth) over a 25-year horizon.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Degree A: duration / cost / starting salary / growth | 3 years / $60k / $55k / 3% |
| Degree B: duration / cost / starting salary / growth | 4 years / $90k / $75k / 4% |
| Projection horizon | 25 years |
Year 7: A leads by ~$80k (B still catching up after extra study year and higher cost). Year 25: B leads by ~$540k. Break-even: ~year 11.
Degree A graduates a year earlier and at lower cost — leads in early years. Degree B's higher starting salary and higher growth rate eventually catch up: by year 11 the cumulative gap flips, and by year 25 Degree B has produced ~$540k more cumulative income. The choice depends on horizon: if you only care about the first 7 years (short career runway, plans to leave the field), Degree A wins. For a 25+ year career, Degree B's compound growth dominates.
Frequently asked questions
How do I compare two degree options financially?
Plug in the cost, study duration, starting salary, and salary growth for each option, choose a long horizon (20+ years), and look at the cumulative gap and break-even year. The calculator tells you when each option pulls ahead and by how much. The answer often depends heavily on horizon — a degree that wins by year 5 may lose by year 25, and vice versa.
What factors beyond salary should I consider?
Field-specific employment rates, the degree's flexibility into other careers, network effects, professional licensing pathways, and personal fit. A degree with a slightly lower projected salary but stronger career prospects, broader applicability, or better intellectual fit may produce better real outcomes than the on-paper financial winner. The calculator handles the financial side; the decision involves more.
How does course duration affect the comparison?
Longer courses delay earnings and accumulate more cost during study, so they need a higher post-graduation salary to catch up. A 1-year duration difference at typical salaries means roughly $50k–$80k of extra opportunity cost (foregone wages plus negative cashflow during the extra year). The longer course needs to make that back via higher salary or higher growth, which is what the calculator's break-even year shows you.
What if both degrees lead to similar salaries?
When salaries are similar, the cheaper, shorter degree usually wins financially — its lower cost and earlier earnings start dominate. This is why generalist degrees (where the salary outcome is similar to a more specialised alternative) are often the better financial choice. The calculator surfaces this: small salary differences over 25 years rarely overcome a $30k cost difference plus an extra year of forgone earnings.
Should the comparison horizon be career length or just early years?
It depends on your real planning horizon. If you expect to stay in the field 30+ years, use a 30-year horizon — small salary growth differences compound dramatically. If you're not sure (career switch likely, family plans, geographic uncertainty), use a 10–15 year horizon — that captures the meaningful early career without making compound effects do all the work. The calculator works for any horizon you choose.
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