MAJORS · 95 OF 115 SUBFIELDS BY ROI
Is a finance degree worth it?
Part of Business and Management — see the whole category’s numbers.
On average, yes — the mean lifetime ROI is +$745,332. But the spread is the real story.
MEAN LIFETIME ROI · FREOPP 2021 · COHORT-WEIGHTED
+$745,332
across 457 bachelor’s programs · 67,133 graduates
MEDIAN GRADUATE
+$640K
MIDDLE 50% LAND BETWEEN
+$486K ⟷ +$904K
NEVER BREAK EVEN
0.4%
MEDIAN BREAK-EVEN AGE
29
ADJUSTED FOR REAL COMPLETION RATES
+$515K
IF YOU DROP OUT
−$122K
Questions
- Is a finance degree worth it?
- On average yes — across 457 U.S. bachelor’s programs (FREOPP 2021, cohort-weighted), the mean lifetime ROI for Finance is +$745,332 and the median is +$639,516. 0.4% 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 +$486,126 and +$904,243.
- How long until a finance degree pays off?
- Among Finance programs that do break even, the median graduate crosses into positive ROI at age 29 (FREOPP 2021). 0.4% of graduates in the field are in programs that never break even at all.
- Does the school matter for a finance major?
- Enormously. The middle 50% of Finance graduates span +$486,126 to +$904,243 — a +$418K 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). “Finance: lifetime ROI statistics.” Data: FREOPP 2021. https://le-teen.com/majors/finance