ROI Calculator
Is This Degree Worth It? Calculate Your Return on Investment.
Earning a graduate degree is a meaningful investment of time, focus, and money.
This calculator is designed to help you make that decision with clarity and confidence.
We automatically include the full cost of your selected program. From there, you can enter your current salary and what you believe you could earn after graduation. We also provide average salary benchmarks by field to help you ground your estimate in real-world data.
Boston University’s Online portfolio was created to expand access without compromising excellence. We recognize that many learners are motivated, capable, and ready to advance their careers – but are often constrained by cost, geographic distance, work responsibilities, family commitments, or other personal circumstances that make traditional on-campus study difficult or impossible. We have designed programs to meet these learners where they are: offering flexible scheduling, high-quality instruction from world-class faculty, and program structures that support meaningful outcomes for a broader and more diverse range of students. This commitment reflects BU’s belief that access to transformative education should not be limited by time, place, or circumstance, and that online learning can be a powerful pathway to both personal and professional growth.
See the Long-Term Impact
Even a moderate increase in annual salary can translate into substantial lifetime earnings growth. For many professionals, advancing into higher-skilled, higher-responsibility roles creates compounding financial benefits year after year.
This tool helps you visualize:
- Your potential salary increase
- How quickly you could recoup your tuition investment
- Your projected earnings advantage over time
How to Use the Calculator
- Review the pre-filled program cost.
- Enter your current annual salary.
- Estimate your expected post-graduation salary (or use the field average provided).
- Explore how different salary outcomes affect your return.
Tip: Try both a conservative estimate and an ambitious one. You may be surprised how even incremental growth can dramatically shift your long-term earning trajectory.
Investing in Yourself
A graduate degree is more than a credential — it’s an investment in expanded opportunity, deeper expertise, and increased earning power. Use this calculator to explore what that investment could mean for you.