Methodology

ROI score

The ROI score answers one question: how much of your total tuition do you earn back each year, after housing and living costs, weighted by your chance of actually graduating?

• Net salary = median graduate earnings − estimated annual rent − estimated living costs, computed for the city where the institution is located.
• Annual rent = city market median rent × 0.45 (shared / student accommodation factor) × 12 months. Market rent represents a full private unit; students and recent graduates typically share.
• Living costs = annual rent × 0.4 (utilities, food, transport approximation).
• Total tuition = annual tuition × standard degree length: US 4yr · CA 4yr · AU 3yr · UK 3yr · IE 4yr. Where course-level duration data exists (some Irish courses), it takes precedence.

Payback years = total tuition ÷ net salary, rounded to whole years.

After-tax estimates

The after-tax toggle applies 2024 national tax rules as simplified single-filer models: US federal brackets + flat state-rate approximations + FICA; UK income tax + National Insurance; Irish income tax + USC + PRSI; Australian brackets + Medicare levy; Canadian federal brackets + flat provincial approximations + CPP/EI. These are estimates — marginal relief, credits beyond the basics, and local taxes are not modelled.

Medicine override

Stored earnings for medical degrees use inconsistent career timepoints across countries (residents vs consultants), which makes raw comparison misleading. When you search for medicine, we replace stored earnings with first-year attending/consultant salary estimates: US $280k (MGMA/AAMC), Ireland €120k (HSE Consultant Type B), UK £100k (NHS Consultant), Canada C$280k (CIHI), Australia A$300k (AMA) — all 2024 figures. ROI and payback are recomputed from these salaries. Note this represents the post-residency stage, typically 5–10 years after graduation.

Career stage adjustment

Source datasets measure earnings at different points: US College Scorecard ~6 years after entry, UK LEO and Irish CSO ~1 year, Canada ~2 years, Australia ~3 years after graduation. The career-stage toggle rescales earnings to a common target year using multipliers derived from longitudinal data (HMRC LEO, StatCan Job Bank, QILT GOS-L, CSO Revenue, College Scorecard). Rent and living costs are held fixed across stages, so net salary moves by the earnings delta.

Data sources

• United States — College Scorecard (U.S. Dept. of Education): earnings, tuition, graduation rates.
• Ireland — HEA Graduate Outcomes Survey, Qualifax course data, CSO earnings. Field-level earnings are national averages by field; college-specific earnings are not published in Ireland.
• United Kingdom — HESA / Discover Uni graduate outcomes.
• Australia — CRICOS registered course data, QILT graduate outcomes.
• Canada — provincial open datasets and StatCan earnings.
• Rent & living costs — city-level market rent medians, updated periodically.
• Exchange rates — frankfurter.app (ECB reference rates), fetched live on the compare page.

Known limitations

• Cross-country score comparison: ROI scores are computed in each country's local currency and tax system. A US score of 38 vs an Irish score of 12 reflects different price levels and salary structures, not just "better value" — compare patterns, not decimal points.
• Tuition figures are international-student list prices or net prices depending on source; scholarships are not modelled.
• Earnings medians hide field- and person-level variance; visa work restrictions are not priced in.
• Rent factors (0.45 share, 0.4 living-cost multiplier) are simplifying assumptions applied uniformly across countries.

Found an error or have better source data? data@campcareer.com