Tuition: Annual in-state or out-of-state tuition published by each school to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), most recent academic year.

Starting salary: Median annual wage for the selected career from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics.

Loan payment: Standard amortization formula; P × r(1+r)ⁿ / ((1+r)ⁿ − 1).

20-year net value: The incremental earnings the degree adds — cumulative salary above a no-degree baseline (set to your opportunity-cost wage, grown at the same rate) over 20 years, minus the loan’s interest cost, minus the direct + opportunity cost of school. Earnings start after graduation, so the first few years (while you’re in school) earn no degree income. We deduct only the loan’s interest here because the tuition principal is already counted once in the total cost.

Break-even year: The year when cumulative incremental income exceeds total direct + opportunity costs.

Best cities: Ranked by (local median household income / national median household income) × career national median salary, divided by local home values — a proxy for salary-vs-cost-of-living. This is an approximation; BLS occupational metro wage data is not yet integrated (Phase 2).