Acknowledgements

This calculator is built on other people's research and data. These are the sources it relies on.

• Is College Worth It? A Comprehensive Return on Investment Analysis

  Preston Cooper, Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP)

  I used the table in Preston Cooper's article extensively to project earnings for each college program. Although this calculator uses its own ensemble models to estimate what someone would earn without college, his article is what inspired me to take on this project.

  I'd encourage anyone using this site to read the article. It's extraordinarily insightful.

• American Community Survey

  U.S. Census Bureau

  Used to build the dataset of 3.3 million Americans whose highest education is a high school diploma. That dataset trains the model behind part 2 of the calculator. About the survey

• National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997

  U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

  Used to calculate each person's adjustment factor in part 3, which accounts for background characteristics that strongly affect lifetime income. About the survey