MAJORS · 74 OF 115 SUBFIELDS BY ROI
Is an entrepreneurship degree worth it?
Part of Business and Management — see the whole category’s numbers.
On average, yes — the mean lifetime ROI is +$401,906. But the spread is the real story.
MEAN LIFETIME ROI · FREOPP 2021 · COHORT-WEIGHTED
+$401,906
across 83 bachelor’s programs · 3,931 graduates
MEDIAN GRADUATE
+$274K
MIDDLE 50% LAND BETWEEN
+$110K ⟷ +$575K
NEVER BREAK EVEN
7%
MEDIAN BREAK-EVEN AGE
33
ADJUSTED FOR REAL COMPLETION RATES
+$243K
IF YOU DROP OUT
−$130K
Questions
- Is an entrepreneurship degree worth it?
- On average yes — across 83 U.S. bachelor’s programs (FREOPP 2021, cohort-weighted), the mean lifetime ROI for Entrepreneurship is +$401,906 and the median is +$273,893. 7% 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 +$110,374 and +$574,539.
- How long until an entrepreneurship degree pays off?
- Among Entrepreneurship programs that do break even, the median graduate crosses into positive ROI at age 33 (FREOPP 2021). 7% of graduates in the field are in programs that never break even at all.
- Does the school matter for an entrepreneurship major?
- Enormously. The middle 50% of Entrepreneurship graduates span +$110,374 to +$574,539 — a +$464K 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). “Entrepreneurship: lifetime ROI statistics.” Data: FREOPP 2021. https://le-teen.com/majors/entrepreneurship