About Us

Helping Students Make Smarter College Investment Decisions

DreamDegree is a free tool that calculates the 20-year return on investment for every college degree program in the United States — no sign-up, no paywalls, no ads.

Our Mission

Choosing a college degree is one of the biggest financial decisions a person will ever make — yet most students pick a major with little data on whether the investment will pay off. DreamDegree was built to change that.

We believe every student deserves transparent, data-driven insight into the long-term financial outcomes of their education. By surfacing 20-year net ROI data for 190,000+ degree programs across 6,400+ colleges, we help students, parents, and counselors compare real-world outcomes before signing the dotted line.

How We Calculate ROI

Our ROI formula estimates the net financial return of a degree program over a 20-year post-graduation horizon:

Net ROI = (Median 10-yr Salary × 20) − (Total Annual Cost × 4) − Average Student Debt

  • → Median salary is the reported 10-year post-enrollment median earnings for graduates of that program, used as a proxy for long-term earning power.
  • → Total cost is the institution's reported annual cost of attendance (tuition, fees, room & board), multiplied by a standard 4-year completion window.
  • → Average debt is the median federal student loan debt at graduation for borrowers at that institution and program.

ROI is a simplified financial model intended to aid comparison — it does not account for personal factors like career growth, living costs, or income taxes.

Our Data Sources

All data on DreamDegree comes directly from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, a publicly available dataset updated annually by the federal government.

The College Scorecard covers more than 6,400 accredited institutions and 190,000+ program-level records, including cost of attendance, completion rates, earnings outcomes, and student debt levels. Data reflects the most recent available academic year.

We do not receive compensation from any college or university. Our rankings and ROI figures are generated algorithmically from government data — not editorial judgment.

Who Built This?

DreamDegree is an independent project built by a small team passionate about education transparency and data literacy. We are not affiliated with any college, university, or government agency.

We built DreamDegree because we wished this tool had existed when we were choosing our own degrees. If you find it useful, share it with a student who needs it.

Contact Us

Have a question, found an error in our data, or want to collaborate? We'd love to hear from you.

Email us at: info@dreamdegree.org

Ready to Find Your Best-ROI Degree?

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