MAJORS · 83 OF 115 SUBFIELDS BY ROI
Is an international business degree worth it?
Part of Business and Management — see the whole category’s numbers.
On average, yes — the mean lifetime ROI is +$601,003. But the spread is the real story.
MEAN LIFETIME ROI · FREOPP 2021 · COHORT-WEIGHTED
+$601,003
across 156 bachelor’s programs · 8,059 graduates
MEDIAN GRADUATE
+$536K
MIDDLE 50% LAND BETWEEN
+$327K ⟷ +$848K
NEVER BREAK EVEN
3.2%
MEDIAN BREAK-EVEN AGE
30
ADJUSTED FOR REAL COMPLETION RATES
+$397K
IF YOU DROP OUT
−$124K
Questions
- Is an international business degree worth it?
- On average yes — across 156 U.S. bachelor’s programs (FREOPP 2021, cohort-weighted), the mean lifetime ROI for International Business is +$601,003 and the median is +$536,150. 3.2% 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 +$327,314 and +$848,017.
- How long until an international business degree pays off?
- Among International Business programs that do break even, the median graduate crosses into positive ROI at age 30 (FREOPP 2021). 3.2% of graduates in the field are in programs that never break even at all.
- Does the school matter for an international business major?
- Enormously. The middle 50% of International Business graduates span +$327,314 to +$848,017 — a +$521K 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). “International Business: lifetime ROI statistics.” Data: FREOPP 2021. https://le-teen.com/majors/international-business