College Major Return On Investment Rankings Are Out — and the Results Should Change How Every Student Picks a Degree

When a senior in high school decides on a college major, they are making what could be the biggest financial decision of their life—typically without a spreadsheet, frequently without much guidance, and nearly always without knowing the actual numbers. That conversation is beginning to shift as a result of the data that has been released over the past few years, and some of what it reveals is truly unsettling.

Computer science majors currently have the highest return on investment of any bachelor’s degree program, with a ROI of about 3,143% over a ten-year period, according to a recent Investopedia analysis using federal data. In their early careers, these graduates typically earn roughly $35,000 more annually than the average college graduate and borrow slightly less than the median student. That gap is not insignificant. It can significantly alter where you live, how quickly you pay off loans, and how much financial flexibility you have into your thirties over the course of ten years. Degrees in engineering, nursing, and business also have strong long-term results, usually paying for themselves within seven years of entering the workforce.

Theology and religion majors, on the other hand, have the lowest return on investment (ROI) of all the fields examined, with median debt of about $34,800 and early career earnings of about $41,600 per year. The 10-year ROI is approximately 828%, which is positive but significantly below average.

It’s interesting to note that, as of 2024, the unemployment rate for recent computer science graduates was 7%, whereas that of theology graduates is actually lower. The raw ROI figures don’t fully account for a pattern that exists here: some of the highest-paying fields to pursue are currently more difficult to enter than they once were. Experts cite employers reducing remote hiring of recent graduates and AI taking over entry-level tech jobs as contributing factors.

The overall cost picture tends to surprise people, so it’s worth taking a moment to consider it. When tuition, living expenses, student loan interest, and the income you forfeit while enrolled are taken into account, the average cost of a bachelor’s degree from a state university is estimated to be $270,000.

For a four-year public program, tuition alone typically costs about $107,000. Despite all of this, the average graduate takes about 12 years after entering the workforce to fully recover the investment, so the financial break-even point typically occurs closer to age 34 than on graduation day. That’s a lengthy runway, which highlights how crucial major selection is to the result.

When compared to what a person with a high school diploma might earn instead, it turns out that some majors not only offer low returns, but they also produce negative ones over the course of a lifetime. According to data from the Education Data Initiative, education, psychology, family and consumer sciences, and liberal arts all appear in negative territory in some lifetime ROI models. There are legitimate, non-financial reasons to pursue a field, so this does not imply that those degrees are worthless or that those who choose them are making mistakes. However, students should be able to see this number prior to signing a loan agreement, not after.

The discussion of college values seems to be evolving into something more sincere at last. The general assertion that “any degree pays off” was accepted as gospel for a very long time. The information is more complex than that. The highest lifetime ROI rankings are found in management information systems, finance, computer science, and electrical engineering. In certain models, psychology and education rank close to or below zero. According to FREOPP research that examines tens of thousands of programs, the median bachelor’s degree program has a lifetime ROI of $160,000. However, they estimate that nearly a third of federal Pell Grant and student loan funding goes to programs that yield no positive return at all.

It’s difficult to ignore the 18-year-olds sitting in guidance counselor offices, making decisions based on what their parents studied or what sounds intriguing. Interest is important. Passion is important. However, it is also important to understand that the difference in return on investment between the top and lowest college majors is not insignificant; in certain instances, it can mean the difference between having debt well into middle age and having financial stability at thirty.