The Comparison of The Net Present Value and Return On Investment of Engineering Majors and Non-Engineering Majors Undergraduate Degrees For Students Who Persist To Graduation At A Research University-Very High Research (RU/VH) University In Southern

The primary purpose of this study was to compare the Net Present Value (NPV) and Return on Investment (ROI) of Engineering majors and non-Engineering majors undergraduate degrees for students who persist to graduation at a Research University-Very High Research (RU/VH) University in Southern region of the United States. The Department of Commerce - U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) 2019 5-year Survey (2015-2019) dataset was used for the demographic, academic, and financial variables of participants. For this study, the selected participants were: 1) Born in the United States (not naturalized or born outside of country to U.S. parents), 2) Highest level of completed Education was a Bachelor’s Degree (all other levels were excluded except “High School diploma” which was used to create opportunity cost comparisons in NPV & ROI), 3) Ages included 18-64 based on U.S. Census defined “working age” (excluded was retirement age 65+), 4) Employment Status was “Civilian employed, at work” (all other levels were excluded). These participants were divided into two groups, those who graduated and obtained undergraduate degrees in: 1) Engineering majors and 2) non-Engineering majors.\nThe RU/VH institution offered 80 majors in 2019, of which 54 identical and equivalent majors were identified in the 2019 ACS 5-year dataset; 10 Engineering and 44 non-Engineering majors were used to calculate their individual NPVs and ROIs of each degree major, as well as a Three-Way ANOVA. Of the 837,972 participants in this study, 93,218 obtained degrees in Engineering majors (11.1%) and 744,754 in non-Engineering majors (89.9%).\nThe researcher recommends that NPV and ROI be presented to current and prospective undergraduate students before they make a final decision on their academic major selection and student loan acceptance. All Engineering majors reported high yielding NPVs, ROIs, and Lifetime Earnings. However, many non-Engineering business-related, STEM, and political science majors provide NPV and ROIs that competitively match the high yielding Engineering majors. In caution, obtaining degrees in undergraduate programs in Social Work, Music, and Early Childhood & Elementary Education majors, continue to provide some of the lowest NPVs, ROIs, and Lifetime Earnings for men, women, and minorities.