MAJORS · 90 OF 115 SUBFIELDS BY ROI
Is a business economics degree worth it?
Part of Business and Management — see the whole category’s numbers.
On average, yes — the mean lifetime ROI is +$660,687. But the spread is the real story.
MEAN LIFETIME ROI · FREOPP 2021 · COHORT-WEIGHTED
+$660,687
across 109 bachelor’s programs · 8,468 graduates
MEDIAN GRADUATE
+$595K
MIDDLE 50% LAND BETWEEN
+$450K ⟷ +$783K
NEVER BREAK EVEN
0%
MEDIAN BREAK-EVEN AGE
29
ADJUSTED FOR REAL COMPLETION RATES
+$474K
IF YOU DROP OUT
−$112K
Questions
- Is a business economics degree worth it?
- On average yes — across 109 U.S. bachelor’s programs (FREOPP 2021, cohort-weighted), the mean lifetime ROI for Business Economics is +$660,687 and the median is +$595,336. 0% 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 +$449,772 and +$783,301.
- How long until a business economics degree pays off?
- Among Business Economics programs that do break even, the median graduate crosses into positive ROI at age 29 (FREOPP 2021). 0% of graduates in the field are in programs that never break even at all.
- Does the school matter for a business economics major?
- Enormously. The middle 50% of Business Economics graduates span +$449,772 to +$783,301 — a +$334K 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). “Business Economics: lifetime ROI statistics.” Data: FREOPP 2021. https://le-teen.com/majors/business-economics