The Grad Degrees With the Best ROI

Prospective grad students eyeing six-figure tuition bills might want to think twice about what actually pays off. In what may not seem like all that much of a shocker, the Washington Post reports that a new analysis finds medical, law, and pharmacy degrees deliver the strongest financial returns, while many other popular programs fall far behind once the full cost is factored in. Researchers looked beyond salaries, accounting for tuition, lost wages during school, and even what that money could have earned if invested instead, in an effort to show what students are really getting for the price. "The message is that we need to provide better information to students," says Joseph Altonji, co-author of the analysis by the Postsecondary Education & Economics Research Center at American University.

The payoff for top programs is striking. Lifetime earnings for medical doctors nearly tripled even after costs, while pharmacy doctorates boosted earnings by more than two-thirds. After that, the returns drop off fast. Degrees in social work, psychology, and curriculum and instruction often left graduates no better off—or worse—once everything was counted. Even some architecture and engineering programs showed only modest gains. A big reason: Students tend to look at post-grad salaries without considering what those same people were earning before enrolling. "At the very least, you should compare what they earned before grad school and what they earn after," says co-author Zhengren Zhu.

Even then, economists say outcomes vary widely depending on the school, program ranking, and whether students can keep working while enrolled. The question is part of a broader debate about the value of higher education overall, with many wondering whether even a bachelor's degree is still worth it. A recent Brookings analysis found that it generally is, with strong lifetime financial returns—highlighting how much more uneven the payoff can be for graduate programs by comparison. As policymakers push for more transparency, researchers say students still lack clear, comparable data—making careful evaluation essential. But Altonji also urges students to ignore the numbers when it comes to doing something they love. "Money isn't everything."