Grad school comparison tool

Why comparing graduate programs on sticker price or U.S. News rank fails you

MBA, law, medical, and master’s programs do not compare cleanly on sticker price or U.S. News rank. A $75,000/year T15 MBA and a $30,000/year state-flagship MBA look wildly different in absolute cost — but the $175,000 median starting salary from one and the $115,000 median starting salary from the other produce 10-year net outcomes that narrow the gap significantly. The $225,000 starting salary for a T14 law graduate heading to Big Law and the $55,000 salary for a public-sector lawyer from a T50 school present similar total tuition costs but produce 20-year earnings that differ by $3 million.

Real comparison requires four inputs per program: total cost across the full program length (tuition plus living plus fees), expected starting salary for graduates who enter the relevant job market, program rank as a proxy for recruiter access in rank-dependent fields, and opportunity cost (what you would have earned staying in your current role). This tool runs the math side-by-side across up to three programs simultaneously.

Total cost — what to include for each program type

Total program cost is almost always understated because most sticker-price comparisons include only tuition. A complete accounting includes:

• Annual tuition: T15 MBA programs (Harvard, Wharton, Stanford, Booth, Kellogg, Tuck, Sloan, Haas, Columbia, Stern, Ross, Darden, Fuqua, Yale, Anderson) = $75,000–$85,000 per year. State flagship MBA (Michigan Ross in-state, Indiana Kelley, UT McCombs in-state) = $25,000–$40,000. Online MBA (Indiana Kelley Direct, UT McCombs, UNC Kenan-Flagler) = $18,000–$30,000 total for some programs. T14 law (Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Chicago, NYU, Penn, Virginia, Michigan, Duke, Northwestern, Georgetown, Cornell, Vanderbilt) = $68,000–$80,000 per year. MD programs: $45,000–$65,000 per year at private schools, $30,000–$55,000 at public schools (in-state).
• Annual living cost: NYC, San Francisco, and Boston = $28,000–$42,000 per year. Chicago, Philadelphia, and DC = $22,000–$30,000. Midwest and South = $18,000–$26,000. Online programs with housing at home = $0–$12,000 depending on situation.
• Program length: MBA = 2 years (some accelerated 1-year programs at Cornell, HBS 2+2). JD = 3 years. MD = 4 years, plus 3–7 years of residency at $60,000–$80,000 stipend (sub-market). MS = 1–2 years depending on field. PhD = 5–7 years post-coursework in most fields.
• Fees, books, health insurance: typically $4,000–$8,000 per year at professional schools. Not trivial but often omitted from comparison spreadsheets.
• Scholarships and institutional aid: T15 MBA programs award an average of $35,000–$45,000 in merit scholarships over 2 years. Regional MBA programs frequently offer $0 merit aid. Law school scholarships are significant — T14 schools with low U.S. News rank pressure offer substantial merit packages to retain strong candidates: Penn, Georgetown, and Northwestern regularly offer $50,000–$80,000 over 3 years to top applicants.

Expected starting salary by program type — 2024–25 data

Starting salary data from USNews employment reports, Law School Transparency, AAMC salary data, and NACE surveys:

• T15 MBA into consulting or finance: $175,000–$185,000 median base salary plus $25,000–$35,000 signing bonus. McKinsey, BCG, Bain, and Goldman Sachs recruit almost exclusively from T15 programs plus a handful of T16–20 programs. Total year-one compensation: $200,000–$215,000.
• State flagship MBA into regional industry roles: $110,000–$125,000 starting, growing to $160,000–$200,000 at year 10 for strong performers. Less access to top-tier consulting and banking recruiting but strong access to regional employers, Fortune 500 companies headquartered locally, and government roles.
• T14 law into Big Law: $225,000 starting at most major firms (the Cravath scale is now standard at Am Law 100 firms). $20,000–$30,000 signing bonus for judicial clerk hires. Year-4 associate salary: $360,000–$395,000. Partner track creates a wide range of outcomes beyond year 8.
• Regional or T15–50 law into local market: $75,000–$95,000 starting. Public sector and government: $55,000–$75,000 starting. Public interest loan forgiveness (PSLF) becomes a major financial variable for graduates in these roles — see our PSLF calculator.
• MD after residency, primary care (family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics): $260,000–$290,000 median. The 7–11 years of training before attending-level salary matters enormously for the lifetime ROI of medicine. Specialty: Orthopedic Surgery $600,000+, Neurosurgery $750,000+, Dermatology $450,000+, Psychiatry $285,000.
• MS Engineering (electrical, mechanical, computer science): $105,000–$120,000 starting, approximately $25,000–$35,000 above the bachelor’s median for the same field. The MS premium is highest in semiconductor, defense, and research-focused roles where the credential is a hard filter.
• MS Data Science / Analytics: $100,000–$115,000 starting. The market has cooled from 2021–22 peaks but remains strong at tech-focused companies.

The 10-year net comparison — how to think about the math

The comparison tool calculates: (expected 10-year cumulative earnings, assuming 3% annual salary growth) minus (total program cost including living) minus (opportunity cost — what you would have earned staying in your current role for the program duration).

An illustrative comparison between a T15 MBA and a state flagship MBA for a 28-year-old currently earning $90,000 per year:

T15 MBA: Total cost $300,000 (tuition + living, net of $40K scholarship). Opportunity cost: $180,000 (2 years of $90K salary foregone). Total all-in investment: $480,000. Year-1 salary: $175,000. 10-year cumulative at 3% growth: $2,005,000. Net gain vs. staying: $2,005,000 minus $480,000 minus 10 years of continued $90K career progression (approximately $1,030,000) = approximately $495,000 net advantage from the MBA over the decade.

State flagship MBA: Total cost $80,000 (tuition + living, no scholarship). Opportunity cost: $180,000. Total all-in: $260,000. Year-1 salary: $115,000. 10-year cumulative at 3% growth: $1,317,000. Net gain vs. staying: $1,317,000 minus $260,000 minus $1,030,000 = approximately $27,000 net advantage over the decade. The T15 premium is worth approximately $470,000 in additional 10-year earnings in this scenario.

This math is highly sensitive to starting salary differentials and is weakened when you factor in the 3% growth assumption favoring the person who stayed and had two additional years of raises and promotions. The full comparison requires your specific numbers.

How much rank matters — and where it does not

Rank-to-outcome correlations are dramatically different across program types:

• MBA: enormously rank-dependent. McKinsey, BCG, Goldman Sachs, and similar top-tier employers recruit from T15 programs plus a few specialty programs. T30 MBA programs have virtually no on-campus recruiting from top-tier consulting and banking employers. Outside T50, MBA ROI turns negative in cohort-weighted average terms — the degree cost exceeds the salary lift it produces for most graduates.
• Law: T14 provides access to Big Law ($225,000 starting). Outside T14, access is almost entirely regional and government/public interest ($55,000–$95,000 starting). The cliff between T14 and T15–50 in law is steeper than in almost any other professional field. Law School Transparency publishes employment outcomes by school that make this visible.
• MD: rank matters significantly less than most professional programs. All MD programs produce licensed physicians who can practice medicine. Rank matters for residency match competitiveness at highly competitive specialties (dermatology, neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, ophthalmology) where match rates correlate with Step scores and research experience more than school rank. Primary care specialties (family medicine, internal medicine, psychiatry) are accessible from any accredited MD program.
• MS (Engineering, CS, Analytics): project portfolio, internship experience, and specific technical skills matter more than program rank for most MS engineering and CS hiring. A state flagship MS graduate with two strong internships and a GitHub portfolio of deployed projects often outcompetes a T20 MS graduate with no industry experience in industry hiring (not research hiring, where rank matters more).
• PhD: advisor fit and funding structure dominate rank. A fully funded PhD with a productive advisor in a top-30 program who publishes in top journals outperforms a top-10 program placement with a misaligned or unproductive advisor. Program ranking matters for first-faculty-job placement at research universities — but industry research positions (Google Research, Microsoft Research, national labs) evaluate candidates more on publications and technical work than on program rank.

Fully-funded PhDs — a completely different financial model

A fully-funded PhD provides a stipend ($25,000–$45,000 per year at most research universities) plus full tuition remission, so the total out-of-pocket cost is near zero. The economics look very different from professional school — but the opportunity cost is substantial. 5–7 years at a $30,000 annual stipend vs. 5–7 years at a $95,000 engineering salary represents $350,000–$500,000 in foregone earnings. The 10-year net compared to a master’s plus immediate industry employment can be negative unless you are targeting academia (where the PhD is the required credential for tenure-track faculty positions) or national lab and research-institution roles (where the PhD is the primary differentiator).

Never accept an unfunded PhD offer to attend a ranked program. Funding is standard at every research-focused PhD program. An offer without funding is either a master’s in disguise, a signal of weak departmental interest in your application, or a terminal master’s program that admits unfunded PhD students as revenue. Apply only to programs that fund PhD students through research or teaching assistantships.

Scholarship negotiation — what is possible and where

MBA and law school scholarships are routinely negotiated — this is one of the most underutilized financial levers in graduate school admission. The strategy: share your competing offers in writing with each school’s financial aid or admissions office, noting that you are strongly interested in their program but the financial difference between offers makes the decision difficult. Approximately $10,000 in additional scholarship maps to a 1-rank-bucket higher competing offer as a negotiation anchor. Schools that want you will often respond with additional funding within 2–5 business days of receiving a competing offer.

MD programs rarely negotiate scholarships — the standard is that everyone pays the same rate, and scholarship awards are need-based at most programs. Some DO programs and some newer MD programs have begun offering merit scholarships, but they are not the norm. PhD offers are determined by departmental funding and are generally not negotiable, though starting stipend can occasionally be negotiated at programs that have flexibility in their funding packages.

Step-by-step: how to compare programs using this tool

1. Enter annual tuition, living costs, and program length for each program. Include any scholarship awards already received — enter the net tuition after scholarship, not gross.
2. Enter expected starting salary for each program based on that program’s published employment data. Use the median for the job type you are targeting (consulting median, not overall median, if you are targeting consulting). Law School Transparency, USNews MBA employment reports, and AAMC salary data are the most reliable sources.
3. Enter your current salary to calculate opportunity cost. The tool will subtract your foregone earnings during the program from each option’s net ROI.
4. Review the 10-year net for each program. The program with the highest 10-year net is the best ROI — but consider whether the higher-net program’s job market is accessible from your candidate profile, and whether the 10-year net advantage is worth the personal sacrifices the program requires.

FAQ: Graduate school comparison questions

Should I choose the school with the best reputation or the school that offers the most scholarship money?

It depends on whether the reputation difference materially affects your job outcomes. In MBA and law, T15 vs. T20 often produces similar outcomes in regional markets — in those cases, take the scholarship. T15 vs. T30 frequently produces very different outcomes in top-tier consulting and finance — in those cases, the reputation premium may be worth the cost. In medicine, nursing, and most engineering fields, the reputation difference between similar-tier schools is smaller than the scholarship difference, so taking the scholarship money is almost always the right call.

Is an online MBA worth it?

For career advancement within your current employer (promotion, pay raise, new department), an online MBA from a reputable program (Indiana Kelley Direct, UT McCombs, Carnegie Mellon Tepper Online) is a strong investment at $30,000–$60,000 total cost. For switching into management consulting, investment banking, or corporate strategy at a new employer, an in-person MBA from a T15 program is almost always required because the recruiting networks and on-campus recruiting processes do not extend to online students.

How do I know if grad school will actually improve my career?

Find 10 alumni of the program 5 and 10 years post-graduation on LinkedIn. Do their career trajectories look like what you want your trajectory to look like? Are they in the roles and at the employers you are targeting? Programs with strong outcomes produce alumni who are visibly progressing in the career paths you are interested in. Programs with weak outcomes produce alumni who are working in roles that do not require the credential.

What is the right amount of debt to take on for a professional degree?

A commonly cited guideline: your total graduate school debt should not exceed your expected first-year salary. $200,000 in debt is sustainable at $200,000 starting salary (T15 MBA or Big Law). $200,000 in debt is devastating at $65,000 starting salary (regional law, public-interest law). Use our student debt-to-income calculator to check this ratio before committing to any program.

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