Summary
- A program with high fees may still have a decent ROI if the salaries offered are high.
- The realistic cost-of-attendance for a 2-year master’s at a public campus approaches $ 89,000.
- Let’s take the example of the USA, where public universities had an average tuition of $ 12,596 in 2021-22.
Studying overseas goes beyond global rankings or tuition fees. Students now consider ROI, living costs, and employment opportunities while choosing a program.
According to recent data, nearly 1.5 million Indians have enrolled in study abroad programs in 2024. This is an eight-fold increase from the enrollment numbers in 2012.
While Indian outbound mobility continues to surge, there remains a persistent enrollee indecision.
Students still struggle to identify the most accurate programs, locations and costs. Despite multiple offers, they find it hard to make an informed decision.
This challenge is addressed by GradRight’s university-search tool, which makes it easy for students to find the perfect university for them.
Designed to process millions of data points, it integrates each student’s profile with global programs. It takes into account
- tuition fees
- living expenses
- alumni ROI
- employability
- industry relevance
- scholarship opportunities
thereby giving students a data-backed short-list instead of guesswork.
In 2024, GradRight helped over 40,000 students pick their perfect university. This guide unpacks the data sources, scoring model, and personalisation logic that GradRight’s university-search tool uses. It will help you decide whether those tools can support smarter study-abroad decisions.
Understanding university ROI and graduate salary potential
In higher education, ROI isn’t just about your first paycheck. ROI should be perceived as the net present value of cash flows over a lifetime. GradRight takes a more holistic approach to calculating ROI by projecting salary over two decades. Then it subtracts tuition, estimated living expenses, and interest on loans. Finally, it estimates the total back to the current value in rupees. This is quite different from the “simple payback” metric, which potentially masks future gains.
Recent statistics bolster the claim.
The BLS (USA) provides all STEM-defined occupations a median wage of $103,580 in 2024. This is over twice the median wage of $49,500 for the entire economy.
PayScale’s 2024 College ROI Report states that top quartile schools graduate significantly outearn high-school graduates. Over 20 years, their earnings exceed those of high school leavers by $1.3m.
GradRight, therefore, prioritises 5-year salary progression more than starting salaries. It also benchmarks all positions to the medians of specific sectors. To understand this, let’s take an example.
In 2024, Computer & Information Research scientists are expected to earn $140,910. This drastically changes the ROI. Especially when you compare it to another program, say, Liberal arts. The program costs may be almost the same, yet the ROI increases for STEM-related occupations.
Tuition fees and study abroad costs: total cost of attendance
Advertised prices often conceal important information, leading to miscalculations. Hidden costs like the I-SEVIS fee, insurance cover and FX margins push totals higher.
Let’s take the example of the USA, where public universities had an average tuition of $ 12,596 in 2021-22. Add this to the College Board’s 12-month living estimate of $ 36,180, and hidden costs (I-SEVIS, insurance, etc). Hence, the realistic cost-of-attendance for a 2-year master’s at a public campus approaches $ 89,000.
GradRight incorporates living expenses with tuition fees when measuring ROI. It understands that it’s possible for a program to be affordable in one country. But a living expense could make it substantially more expensive overall.
In Germany, public universities offer education without charging tuition fees to international students. Their upfront cost may seem low at first glance. However, GradRight still calculates ROI by comparing expected salaries to the living stipend needed.
GradRight displays the “tuition vs earnings” trade-off. A program with high fees may still have a decent ROI if the salaries offered are high.
For example, a STEM master’s degree in the US might cost ₹45 lakh/year. However, the earning potential for the same is about ₹70–80 lakh annually. On the other hand, some European programs are cheaper. But even though they don’t have a high fee, the post-graduate salaries are moderate. This affects their ROI in the long run.
GradRight’s matching engine estimates these salaries based on historical data. It then computes a net ROI for each option, which is usually over 5–10 years.
Career prospects & graduate employability metrics in GradRight
GradRight evaluates more than just the financial ROI. It also considers career outcomes. To evaluate a program, it assesses its placement data and alumni success stories with employer and alumni surveys. GradRight aggregates:
- Employment outcomes after 6 months as reported in the NACE First-Destination survey. Class of 2023 shows 87.2 % employed or in graduate school.
- QS Employment-Outcome score. It uses the latest QS indicator that ranks universities based on the impact their alumni have made, and how likely they are to be hired.
- Data from the LinkedIn Alumni Tool. Programs with fewer than 500 traceable graduates are marked as “low statistical confidence.”
These outcomes reinforce long-term ROI. GradRight not only focuses on the first-year salary, but also examines the career path in detail. A strong alumni network can enhance mid-career prospects and boost lifetime earnings. GradRight’s “match score” accounts for that.
Data on graduate outcomes, like
- 6-month placement rates
- Typical hiring companies
- Salary bands
are displayed side-by-side for each university. It tracks trends across entire industries, too. Programs associated with growing industries are rated higher. Universities with built-in internship or co-op programs are also given higher scores.
Essentially, GradRight measures what it calls “tough outcomes” because graduating without a job is useless.
Inside the GradRight algorithm: data-driven university rankings
GradRight recommends programs using an AI algorithm. It also uses a comprehensive database of university information tailored to students’ objectives. The platform generates “match scores”. This enables users to compare universities based on academics, projected ROI, and career opportunities.
Essentially, you create a profile with grades and interests along with a budget. GradRight gives you a shortlist of global programs that match the criteria. The outcome isn’t just a ranking. It’s a tailored list highlighting the best affordable options curated for Indian students.
The system integrates 8 million data points from 14 public databases, including
- IPEDS,
- HESA,
- CAA,
- KHDA,
- QS 2025,
- THE, and more.
The core weight matrix consists of
- 40% for ROI
- 35% for career outcome
- 25% for cost.
Fees and ranking deltas are updated nightly through an ETL pipeline. Every quarter, a human QA reviews stale courses and patches anomalies. Scores are normalised on a 0-100 scale and re-ranked every 24 hours. Hence, any scholarships or fee surges are instantly displayed in real-time data.
These key metrics are essential in GradRight’s evaluation framework:
Tuition and living costs: All fees (Tuition fees, campus fees). Also, estimated living expenses for each corresponding program and city are provided.
Employment outcomes: Graduate alumni placement rates alongside median starting salaries.
ROI calculation: A balance of costs vs expected earnings over a set duration.
Career impact: Strength of industry ties, influence of the alumni network, and long-term career growth.
Scholarships and funding: Availability of affordable loans or scholarships (GradRight’s loan search platform).
To sum up, GradRight treats every program as an investment. It compares your payout (living expenses and fees) versus your salary and career advancement opportunities. This aligns with recent trends in higher-education rankings. For example, QS’s new Employment Outcomes indicator tracks graduate employment and alumni impact. GradRight taps into similar data but in more detail.
Case studies: Best value universities — a data-driven choice
Let’s look at a few examples of how GradRight compares different programs.
Comparative Case Studies – Study Abroad ROI for Indian Students
This table illustrates how the best value universities emerge from a complex competition. The best value colleges are not the cheapest or the highest ranked. It is the one that offers the greatest career advantages relative to costs.
Limitations of GradRight and the continuous-improvement loop
No model is perfect. Self-reported data, mid-cycle new programs, and sudden shifts in USD to INR exchange rates can skew ROI calculations in rupee terms. GradRight mitigates this through:
- Outcomes-based retraining for over 8000 graduates, reviewed in 2024. Quarterly retraining sharpened on new outcome data.
- INR to USD exchange rate feed updates ROI calculations live every two hours, with 0.75% triggers on either side for recalculation.
- Error reporting with an average patch time of 48 hrs per release, notes from GradRight for closed-loop systems.
Using GradRight’s uni-search platform in 5 steps
Understanding how GradRight computes ROI value is gratifying. Navigating the dashboard, however, reveals its true power. The following workflow captures best practice techniques distilled into five steps.
Register: Create a profile, add test scores, budget, and objectives.
Generate shortlist: AI applies program selection criteria based on ROI and visa eligibility.
Request calls with alumni: One-click call booking through the dashboard.
Compare scholarships & fee waivers: Many public US institutions forgo the $50–150 application fee.
Lock foreign exchange rate and submit application: Each university triggers a matched loan rate quote in real time through the integrated tool.
FAQs
1. How does the GradRight algorithm improve on traditional university rankings?
GradRight integrates
- University ranking systems,
- Tuition updates,
- LinkedIn salary curves,
- Visa information, and
- International currency trends.
It then adds 40% ROI weightage to ensure selections reflect affordability and career outcomes.
2. What exactly goes into GradRight’s cost of attendance calculation?
GradRight’s cost of attendance model features an all-inclusive approach. It covers
- tuition,
- program surcharges,
- mandatory insurance,
- visa fees,
- relocation flights,
- rent,
- groceries,
- commuting passes, and
- a 3% buffer to account for foreign exchange rate volatility.
3. How is overseas education ROI computed on the platform?
The overseas education ROI features a student-centric approach. The education ROI is streamlined into a 20-year post-tax earnings equation against study costs and predicted loan interest.
4. How does GradRight measure graduate employability beyond salary?
GradRight tracks graduate employability with
- Six-month post-graduation job retention,
- Sector relevance,
- OPT conversion rate,
- Median entry salary, and
- Alumnus LinkedIn elevation.
5. Why shouldn’t I rely solely on university rankings when choosing?
Selecting a university based solely on its ranking neglects consideration of the total cost of tuition and the cost of living. Employing GradRight reveals opportunity cost to universities through customised ROI models.
