Enter your numbers for both paths. We project each year's earnings, tax, tuition and loan costs over your career, then account for the time value of money.
⚠ Estimates only, not financial advice — see the note below the results for details. US only for now.
Each line already includes every adjustment above it — this isn't a list to add up. Compare using the bottom line only.
Estimates only, not financial advice. Uses 2026 federal tax brackets plus an approximate state rate. Tuition and living costs during school are financed with a federal Direct Unsubsidized loan; interest capitalizes at graduation and is repaid on a standard fixed term, starting the year after graduation. Stage 4 converts each year's net cash flow to its future value at your investment return rate — money earned earlier has more time to grow, which is why the timing of income matters as much as the amount.
Grad School vs Working projects both paths year by year over your chosen career horizon, then runs the totals through four stages to estimate which one leaves you with more real wealth.
Working sums your salary with annual raises for every year of the horizon. Grad school sums any income during the program (often $0 for full-time study) plus your post-degree salary with its own raises, for the years after you graduate.
Each year's earnings are taxed using current federal brackets plus an approximate state rate for your city, then summed across the horizon.
Tuition and living costs during the program are financed with a federal student loan. Interest accrues while you're in school and capitalizes at graduation, then the balance is repaid on a standard fixed term starting the year after you graduate. Those loan payments are subtracted from the years they're actually paid.
A dollar earned in year one can compound for the rest of the horizon; a dollar earned in year ten can't. We convert each year's net cash flow to its future value at your investment return rate, so the final number reflects not just how much each path pays, but when.
No. Grad School vs Working gives a directional estimate to help you think through a decision, not a substitute for a financial advisor. Real outcomes depend heavily on your field, school, and career path in ways a general calculator can't capture.
We currently support a set of major US cities for the state tax approximation. Use the "View supported cities" button at the top of the page for the full list. This calculator is US-only for now.
Grad school usually means one or more years of little or no income, plus tuition and loan interest — and money you don't earn or invest in your twenties has decades less time to compound than money you do. A meaningful salary bump can still take a long time to close that gap, which is exactly what this tool is built to show.
The example uses the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' "Education Pays" data: median annual earnings of about $80,236 for bachelor's degree holders and roughly $95,680 for master's degree holders, both from BLS's 2024 Current Population Survey figures.
That's the official federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan rate for graduate and professional students for loans first disbursed between July 1, 2026 and June 30, 2027, as set by the U.S. Department of Education. It's a fixed rate for the life of the loan, though your actual rate depends on when you borrow.
Your inputs are only used in your browser to calculate a result. If you use the "Copy shareable link" button, your inputs are encoded directly into that URL — nothing is stored on a server.
Rate data: 2026