Calculate your opportunity cost for attending graduate school or law school by filling out the form below!

Current Salary:

Your salary at the job you will be giving up to attend school.

Expected Savings:

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% of your salary you would have saved, had you continued working

Expected Interest Rate:

1%2%3%4%5%6%7%8%9%10%11%12%13%14%15%16%17%18%19%20%21%22%23%24%25%26%27%28%29%30%31%32%33%34%35%36%37%38%39%40%41%42%43%44%45%46%47%48%49%50%51%52%53%54%55%56%57%58%59%60%61%62%63%64%65%66%67%68%69%70%71%72%73%74%75%76%77%78%79%80%81%82%83%84%85%86%87%88%89%90%91%92%93%94%95%96%97%98%99%100%%

%interest you expect you would have earned on your savings.

Grad. Program Length:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Length of the grad program you will be completing (years).

Tuition per Year:

Books, Supplies, Fees per Year:

Expenses you will incur for school (NOT including rent, food, transportation, utilities, etc. — you would have paid these costs whether you entered a grad program or not)

Earnings Per Year During School:

Amount you expect to earn during grad school per year.

Loan Information:

Loan 1 Amount: Loan 1 Term: 5 10 15 20 25 30 Years Loan 1 Int. Rate: 1.01.21.41.61.82.02.22.42.62.83.03.23.43.63.84.04.24.44.64.85.05.25.35.45.65.86.06.26.46.66.87.07.27.47.67.88.08.28.48.89.09.29.49.69.810.011.012.013.014.015.016.017.018.019.020.0% Loan 2 Amount: Loan 2 Term: 5 10 15 20 25 30 Years Loan 2 Int. Rate: 1.01.21.41.61.82.02.22.42.62.83.03.23.43.63.84.04.24.44.64.85.05.25.35.45.65.86.06.26.46.66.87.07.27.47.67.88.08.28.48.89.09.29.49.69.810.011.012.013.014.015.016.017.018.019.020.0% Loan 3 Amount: Loan 3 Term: 5 10 15 20 25 30 Years Loan 3 Int. Rate: 1.01.21.41.61.82.02.22.42.62.83.03.23.43.63.84.04.24.44.64.85.05.25.35.45.65.86.06.26.46.66.87.07.27.47.67.88.08.28.48.89.09.29.49.69.810.011.012.013.014.015.016.017.018.019.020.0%

Enter up to three separate loans. (The purpose of entering up to three separate loans is so that you can enter different interest rates and repayment times if needed. Otherwise, just put the total amount under Loan 1.) In most cases, federal loans have a repayment term of 10 years. Note that Federally-backed Stafford Loans will change to a fixed rate of 6.8% in July, 2006. (See article.)

Methods: The calculator uses a fairly straightforward method for calcuating opportunity cost.

First, it takes the amount you would have saved each year during graduate school, and compounds interest annually on that amount at the specified rate for the relevant number of years.

Then, it presumes that loan payments (including interest) made in the post-graduate-school years represent an opportunity cost of money that could have been saved, once again earning interest at the specified rate.

Finally, it looks at the amount of loans taken out and subtracts the costs of tuition, books, and fees. If this number is negative, some money must have been spent out of savings or from some other source. This amount is treated the same as "missed" savings from leaving a job. The total of all these is the total opportunity cost.