College ROI

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State University of New York at Plattsburgh

Plattsburgh, NY 3,769 Undergrads 67.1% Grad Rate
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Total Cost
$28,244
Sticker Price
Avg Net Price
$17,156
After Aid
Median Earnings
$58,319
4yr Post-Grad

Vs. Peer Institutions

Net Price$17,156
Peer Midpoint: $20,081
Earnings (4yr Post-Grad)Completers only after graduation
$58,319
Peer Midpoint: $60,428
Earnings (10yr Post-Enroll)All enrolled after enrollment
$56,403
Peer Midpoint: $53,763
Graduation Rate67.1%
Peer Midpoint: 58.9%
Average Starting Age21.1
Socio-Economic Diversity
Pell Grant Recipients40.2%
Enrollment Status
Full-Time90.0%
Economic Outcomes
Earn More than HS76.7%

Admissions Profile

Acceptance
78.4%
SAT Avg
1,165
SAT Reading
25th: 54057075th: 640
SAT Math
25th: 54057575th: 610
ACT Composite
25th: 222675th: 28

ROI Sensitivity Analysis
Assuming 4 Years to Graduation

This analysis tests three cost scenarios (Scholarship, Average Net Price, Full Sticker Price) to show how college costs impact your long-term return compared to the average student and a high school graduate.

Lifetime Value Added (NPV)

Institution Lifetime NPV
Vs Median Peer
Vs HS Grad
Zero Cost (Scholarship)$0
+$522k
+$55k
+$38k
Median Cost$17k/yr
+$460k
-$6k
-$24k
Full Cost$28k/yr
+$421k
-$46k
-$64k

ROI Efficiency Metrics

Break-Even Age
Return on Inv. %
Zero Cost (Scholarship)$0
40
∞
Median Cost$17k/yr
Never
-39%
Full Cost$28k/yr
Never
-63%
Analysis Assumptions:
  • Starting Salary: Estimated from the 4-year post-graduation median earnings (assuming 2% annual growth from graduation).
  • Comparisons: "Vs Median Peer" compares to the median student nationwide in a similar level program. "Vs HS Grad" compares to a median high school graduate.
  • Break-Even: The age at which the college investment net income exceeds the median high school graduate's lifetime earnings.
  • NPV: Net Present Value of all future earnings minus costs and taxes, discounted at 7.8%.

Social Impact ROINew

Measures the societal return on a donor's investment. Calculated as the incremental pre-tax lifetime earnings vs. HS grad, divided by the tax-adjusted donation cost.

Donor Return-17%

Gov. Pell Grant ROINew

Measures the government's return on Pell Grants via increased tax revenue. Calculated as the portion of incremental lifetime taxes (discounted at 5.4%) attributed to the Pell Grant investment.

Taxpayer Return-57%
Important Note: Your ROI with any major will depend on the cost you pay to attend the program, and your starting salary. Both vary significantly across institutions. We encourage you to explore the ROI of a specific program variant by selecting the Program title of the credential level you are interested in. You will then have a more detailed return analysis for programs at specific institutions. We also encourage you to use the ROI calculator, or for more sophisticated analysis, the Guided ROI Interview, with your specific estimates of cost and salary.

Program ROI Analysis

Bachelor's Degrees

Median Debt
$20,625
Earnings (4yr)
$70,109
Natl Median: $76,194
Lifetime Value Added
+$69k
Anthropology
BachCIP: 4502
Median Debt
-
Earnings (2yr)
$19,227
Natl Median: $46,676
Lifetime Value Added
-$353k
Area Studies
BachCIP: 0501
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $56,625
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $65,466
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Biology, General
BachCIP: 2601
Median Debt
$18,751
Earnings (4yr)
$67,359
Natl Median: $57,214
Lifetime Value Added
+$47k
Median Debt
$19,500
Earnings (4yr)
$70,499
Natl Median: $68,257
Lifetime Value Added
+$72k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (5yr)
$71,034
Natl Median: $69,830
Lifetime Value Added
+$65k
Chemistry
BachCIP: 4005
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $65,120
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (2yr)
$64,493
Natl Median: $75,975
Lifetime Value Added
+$45k
Median Debt
$23,250
Earnings (4yr)
$51,715
Natl Median: $56,359
Lifetime Value Added
-$78k
Median Debt
$20,850
Earnings (4yr)
$53,653
Natl Median: $58,928
Lifetime Value Added
-$62k
Median Debt
$18,250
Earnings (4yr)
$73,383
Natl Median: $92,374
Lifetime Value Added
+$94k
Median Debt
$21,381
Earnings (4yr)
$58,331
Natl Median: $55,378
Lifetime Value Added
-$24k
Median Debt
$15,513
Earnings (4yr)
$60,418
Natl Median: $55,753
Lifetime Value Added
-$7k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $39,775
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
$44,153
Natl Median: $48,842
Lifetime Value Added
-$142k
Economics
BachCIP: 4506
Median Debt
$24,596
Earnings (4yr)
$63,155
Natl Median: $82,686
Lifetime Value Added
+$15k
Median Debt
$21,024
Earnings (4yr)
$54,281
Natl Median: $48,590
Lifetime Value Added
-$57k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $61,027
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
$26,000
Earnings (4yr)
$50,030
Natl Median: $51,710
Lifetime Value Added
-$92k
Median Debt
$26,500
Earnings (4yr)
$74,550
Natl Median: $83,343
Lifetime Value Added
+$103k
Median Debt
$19,777
Earnings (4yr)
$38,407
Natl Median: $41,367
Lifetime Value Added
-$191k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $60,190
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
History
BachCIP: 5401
Median Debt
$23,121
Earnings (4yr)
$54,187
Natl Median: $50,680
Lifetime Value Added
-$58k
Median Debt
$20,000
Earnings (4yr)
$53,178
Natl Median: $56,726
Lifetime Value Added
-$66k
Median Debt
$22,750
Earnings (4yr)
$52,593
Natl Median: $48,568
Lifetime Value Added
-$71k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (5yr)
$54,773
Natl Median: $73,201
Lifetime Value Added
-$62k
Journalism
BachCIP: 0904
Median Debt
$21,750
Earnings (4yr)
$40,034
Natl Median: $56,278
Lifetime Value Added
-$177k
Median Debt
$22,486
Earnings (4yr)
$52,108
Natl Median: $53,072
Lifetime Value Added
-$75k
Median Debt
$22,973
Earnings (4yr)
$85,677
Natl Median: $83,290
Lifetime Value Added
+$187k
Marketing
BachCIP: 5214
Median Debt
$19,500
Earnings (4yr)
$69,684
Natl Median: $69,303
Lifetime Value Added
+$65k
Mathematics
BachCIP: 2701
Median Debt
-
Earnings (2yr)
$38,289
Natl Median: $69,562
Lifetime Value Added
-$179k
Music
BachCIP: 5009
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $42,892
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
$15,747
Earnings (4yr)
$54,099
Natl Median: $55,012
Lifetime Value Added
-$58k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $50,468
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Philosophy
BachCIP: 3801
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $54,455
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Physics
BachCIP: 4008
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $76,786
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
$23,716
Earnings (4yr)
$49,754
Natl Median: $63,293
Lifetime Value Added
-$95k
Psychology, General
BachCIP: 4201
Median Debt
$18,750
Earnings (4yr)
$50,673
Natl Median: $50,706
Lifetime Value Added
-$87k
Median Debt
$24,390
Earnings (4yr)
$58,888
Natl Median: $63,560
Lifetime Value Added
-$19k
Median Debt
$23,375
Earnings (4yr)
$45,121
Natl Median: $50,497
Lifetime Value Added
-$134k
Median Debt
$21,375
Earnings (4yr)
$92,095
Natl Median: $88,910
Lifetime Value Added
+$236k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
$40,814
Natl Median: $48,471
Lifetime Value Added
-$171k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (2yr)
$33,993
Natl Median: $55,000
Lifetime Value Added
-$218k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
$69,321
Natl Median: $57,805
Lifetime Value Added
+$63k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $53,366
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Social Work
BachCIP: 4407
Median Debt
$21,515
Earnings (4yr)
$59,925
Natl Median: $51,790
Lifetime Value Added
-$11k
Sociology
BachCIP: 4511
Median Debt
$24,000
Earnings (4yr)
$56,704
Natl Median: $52,657
Lifetime Value Added
-$37k
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness
BachCIP: 3105
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $54,562
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
$55,996
Natl Median: $47,382
Lifetime Value Added
-$43k

Master's Degrees

Biology, General
MastCIP: 2601
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $69,830
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
$39,000
Earnings (4yr)
$64,111
Natl Median: $67,030
Lifetime Value Added
-$107k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (2yr)
$46,321
Natl Median: $63,399
Lifetime Value Added
-$256k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $71,685
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $55,512
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $78,149
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $112,705
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $59,571
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Natural Sciences
MastCIP: 3018
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $64,321
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $56,313
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $60,728
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $65,443
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
$56,090
Natl Median: $64,397
Lifetime Value Added
-$180k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $60,111
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
$36,344
Earnings (4yr)
$56,554
Natl Median: $59,916
Lifetime Value Added
-$176k
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $63,707
Lifetime Value Added
N/A

Graduate Certificates

Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
-
Natl Median: $65,509
Lifetime Value Added
N/A
Median Debt
-
Earnings (4yr)
$99,044
Natl Median: $86,288
Lifetime Value Added
+$297k

Note: Lifetime Value Added is the Net Present Value (NPV) of estimated career earnings relative to a median high school graduate (for undergraduate programs) or a median bachelor's degree holder (for graduate programs), accounting for this institution's average cost and taxes. Computed over a career to retirement age.

For graduate programs (Master's, Doctoral, etc.), the calculation assumes a starting age of 22 (after undergraduate completion) and does not include the sunk costs of prior degrees. It represents the value added of the graduate decision moving forward. Note that the institution's average undergraduate net price is used as a proxy for annual cost, which may differ from actual graduate tuition. These Lifetime Value Added results for graduate degrees should not be compared with those for Undergraduate Certificates, Associates or Bachelors.

Completers Only: Federal median earnings data strictly reflects outcomes for students who successfully graduated. Students who do not complete their degree typically earn significantly less and face higher risks of debt default.