MAJORS · 80 OF 115 SUBFIELDS BY ROI
Is a marketing degree worth it?
Part of Business and Management — see the whole category’s numbers.
On average, yes — the mean lifetime ROI is +$570,690. But the spread is the real story.
MEAN LIFETIME ROI · FREOPP 2021 · COHORT-WEIGHTED
+$570,690
across 524 bachelor’s programs · 74,025 graduates
MEDIAN GRADUATE
+$528K
MIDDLE 50% LAND BETWEEN
+$381K ⟷ +$742K
NEVER BREAK EVEN
1.1%
MEDIAN BREAK-EVEN AGE
30
ADJUSTED FOR REAL COMPLETION RATES
+$353K
IF YOU DROP OUT
−$118K
Questions
- Is a marketing degree worth it?
- On average yes — across 524 U.S. bachelor’s programs (FREOPP 2021, cohort-weighted), the mean lifetime ROI for Marketing is +$570,690 and the median is +$527,664. 1.1% 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 +$381,135 and +$742,344.
- How long until a marketing degree pays off?
- Among Marketing programs that do break even, the median graduate crosses into positive ROI at age 30 (FREOPP 2021). 1.1% of graduates in the field are in programs that never break even at all.
- Does the school matter for a marketing major?
- Enormously. The middle 50% of Marketing graduates span +$381,135 to +$742,344 — a +$361K 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). “Marketing: lifetime ROI statistics.” Data: FREOPP 2021. https://le-teen.com/majors/marketing