These ROI calculations on degrees are more of a (flawed) basis for encouraging (less often, discouraging) college. They are not useful. It may seem like a goo

These ROI calculations on degrees are more of a (flawed) basis for encouraging (less often, discouraging) college. They are not useful. It may seem like a good idea to develop an "ROI for college", but it distracts from what's important. First, much of the value of a degree is in getting your first job (networking at elite schools must be helpful however). As your career progresses, the importance of having a degree diminishes. Leaving aside Med, Law, etc.. where you have to have it. Second, your pay is not a pure output of your degree. What field you're in and the salary prospects in that field, how hard you work, how much you negotiate you salaries, how often you change jobs, what part of the country you live in, (I would argue) simply how smart you are - some would say even your race and gender. Another metric could be, cost of tuition vs. one year avg. salary in your field. If I went to college 20 yrs. ago for computing and the tuition was 5k a year, and the average salary is $100k - and go to college now, the cost is $20k - do the math on college value. Kind of a joke right now I can get the Android dev job for $100k prob without the degree.