Degree comparison

A degree comparison is a structured way of evaluating two education paths against each other on financial value rather than prestige or marketing. The comparison considers four levers in parallel: total cost, study duration, starting salary, and salary growth trajectory.

The four levers

• Total cost. Tuition plus fees over the course. Duration and salary differences usually swamp tuition gaps, so cheaper isn’t automatically better.
• Study duration. Each extra year is an extra year of foregone wages. A two-year course gets two years of head-start earnings over a four-year one.
• Starting salary. What you’d realistically earn in your first post-graduation job. The median, not the headline average, is usually the right input.
• Salary growth. Over decades, growth rate matters more than starting salary — a slower start with higher growth often overtakes a faster start with a flatter trajectory.

What the comparison surfaces

The most useful output is the break-even year — the year one degree’s cumulative net earnings overtake the other’s. Within 10 years is decisive; 10–20 years is marginal; never reaching break-even within a normal career suggests the cheaper path is the financially honest choice. Milestone earnings at 10, 20, and 30 years show how the gap evolves rather than relying on a single endpoint.

A framework, not a recommendation

Degree comparison is a modelling exercise. It uses your salary assumptions and projects forward — it can’t predict which degree you’ll get into or how the labour market will move. Use it to eliminate options that don’t make sense, not to pick the best-looking option on a single number.

The degree A vs degree B calculator runs the parallel projection. For the return on education angle on a single path, the education ROI calculator handles cost-versus-return for one degree.