MAJORS · 87 OF 115 SUBFIELDS BY ROI
Is an accounting degree worth it?
Part of Business and Management — see the whole category’s numbers.
On average, yes — the mean lifetime ROI is +$636,797. But the spread is the real story.
MEAN LIFETIME ROI · FREOPP 2021 · COHORT-WEIGHTED
+$636,797
across 767 bachelor’s programs · 86,906 graduates
MEDIAN GRADUATE
+$592K
MIDDLE 50% LAND BETWEEN
+$425K ⟷ +$819K
NEVER BREAK EVEN
0.6%
MEDIAN BREAK-EVEN AGE
29
ADJUSTED FOR REAL COMPLETION RATES
+$372K
IF YOU DROP OUT
−$117K
Questions
- Is an accounting degree worth it?
- On average yes — across 767 U.S. bachelor’s programs (FREOPP 2021, cohort-weighted), the mean lifetime ROI for Accounting is +$636,797 and the median is +$591,688. 0.6% of graduates in this field never break even on the degree. The honest answer depends heavily on the specific program and school: the middle half of graduates land between +$425,016 and +$819,354.
- How long until an accounting degree pays off?
- Among Accounting programs that do break even, the median graduate crosses into positive ROI at age 29 (FREOPP 2021). 0.6% of graduates in the field are in programs that never break even at all.
- Does the school matter for an accounting major?
- Enormously. The middle 50% of Accounting graduates span +$425,016 to +$819,354 — a +$394K spread within one major. The same field can be a strong trade at one school and a losing one at another, which is why the per-school number matters more than the field average.
↓ Download the data (CSV) · All 115 subfields with full statistics. Free to cite with attribution. · Methodology
Cite this:
LE TEEN (2026). “Accounting: lifetime ROI statistics.” Data: FREOPP 2021. https://le-teen.com/majors/accounting