About Degree Payoff

Where Does the Data Come From?

All earnings and debt figures come from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard dataset. This is public data published annually and derived from federal tax records and federal student loan data — not surveys, not self-reported salaries.

Earnings represent the median income of graduates who received federal financial aid, measured 1 year, 4 years, and 5 years after completing the program. Debt figures represent the median total federal loans borrowed by graduates.

Each program in Degree Payoff represents the median outcome across at least 10 institutions that reported non-suppressed earnings data for that credential level and field of study. Programs with fewer reporting institutions are excluded to prevent outliers from skewing the numbers.

How the ROI Calculator Works

The calculator projects cumulative lifetime earnings for two scenarios: the selected degree program versus a no-college baseline. The default no-college baseline is $38,000/year — the approximate median earnings for full-time workers without a college degree — but you can adjust it to match your specific alternative.

Earnings are interpolated linearly between the 1-year, 4-year, and 5-year data points, then held flat after year 5. Cumulative earnings are calculated year by year over a 15-year window. Loan repayment cost is subtracted from the degree scenario using either a standard 10-year or income-driven 20-year repayment term at the federal student loan interest rate.

Break-even is the first year in which cumulative degree earnings minus total repayment cost exceeds cumulative no-college earnings. If break-even does not occur within 15 years, it is shown as "15+ years."

Understanding the Debt Burden Section

The Debt Burden section on each major card shows two metrics alongside the stacked debt bar:

• Payment Burden % — your estimated monthly loan payment as a percentage of your first-year median monthly income. Under 10% is generally considered manageable; above 15% is a strain.
• Debt-to-Income Multiple — total debt divided by first-year annual earnings. A multiple under 1.5× is green (low risk); 1.5–2.5× is yellow (moderate); above 2.5× is red (high burden).

These thresholds are based on commonly used financial aid counseling benchmarks, not hard rules. Your actual situation depends on your specific employer, location, and repayment plan.

Head-to-Head Comparison

You can add up to three programs to the comparison drawer using the "Add to Compare" button on any major card. Once you have at least two selected, click "Compare" to open the full comparison view.

The comparison table shows nine metrics side by side — earnings at 1, 4, and 5 years, median debt, monthly payment, payment burden, debt multiple, break-even year, and completion rate — with a "Best" badge highlighting the strongest result in each row. The comparison chart overlays all three cumulative earnings curves against the no-college baseline so you can see crossover points at a glance.

Frequently Asked Questions