Is it always financially worthwhile to obtain a college degree?

February 16, 2023 By Charles Sullivan 

Is it always financially worthwhile to obtain a four-year college degree?  Answer: no.

It depends on the return on investment (ROI).  The ROI is calculated by estimating the future earnings from the undergraduate degree less the costs of obtaining that degree, including the income lost while attending college or university to get the degree.  The future earnings from the degree will depend on the economic value of the degree.  Some degrees have much more economic value than others.

An Austin think-tank, the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP), has performed the herculean task of creating  a database of the ROI for 1,775 public and private universities and 30,000 bachelor's programs.  Want to know the highest-ROI major at Arizona State?  It's construction management, with a positive ROI of $1,035,357.  Want to know the worst at ASU?  It's a degree in music, with a return of minus $391,887.  Of the ten majors at New Mexico Highlands University, would you like to know the only one that has a positive ROI?  It's all here...............To Read More....

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