Degree ROI by Field and Destination: What the Data Shows ASEAN Students
By Muntasir • Published Jul 05, 2026 • Updated Aug 08, 2026 • Career Planning
A degree's payoff depends more on your field of study than on the university's prestige, and destinations vary sharply in what you pay upfront versus how long you can legally work there after graduating.
💵 OECD data shows STEM graduates earn up to 20% more than average tertiary graduates in the US, the widest field-based gap tracked
🎓 Business, administration and law graduates out-earn peers by up to 19% in Denmark and Sweden; health and welfare graduates earn 28% more in Slovenia
⏱️ Post-study work windows differ by destination and now by degree level too: Australia gives 2 years for bachelor's/coursework master's, 3 for research master's/PhD; Canada ties eligibility to a specific field-of-study list; the UK cuts its Graduate Route from 2 years to 18 months for applications from January 2027
📩 Arts, humanities and education degrees consistently show the lowest earnings premium across OECD countries
ROI is a cost-versus-earnings calculation, not a ranking
Return on investment for a degree compares what you pay (tuition, living costs, years out of the workforce) against what you earn afterward, adjusted for how long you keep working there. A cheap degree in a low-demand field sometimes pays off slower than an expensive degree in a field employers pay a premium for. Run the numbers for your actual field and destination instead of copying a ranking built for someone else's situation.
Field of study moves earnings more than most students expect
The OECD's Education at a Glance 2025 report tracks earnings by field across member countries, and STEM fields consistently sit at the top. In the United States, a STEM tertiary qualification links to earnings up to 20% above the average for all tertiary graduates.
The pattern shifts by country. Business, administration and law graduates earn up to 19% more than average in Denmark and Sweden, while Slovenia shows the largest premium of any field tracked, 28% more for health and welfare graduates. Arts, humanities and education degrees show the lowest earnings premium across the countries OECD tracks, a consistent pattern regardless of destination.
Treat this as a signal to check field-specific salary data for your actual destination and target industry, not a rule that STEM always wins. A health sciences degree beats a STEM degree in some countries, and local licensing requirements change the picture further for regulated professions like medicine, law and engineering.
What you pay before you earn anything
Tuition tiers differ sharply by destination. Public universities in continental Europe often charge low or no tuition to international students in some countries, while private US universities and UK and Australian institutions sit at the expensive end. Add living costs, which vary as much within a country as between countries, since a capital city costs more than a regional town.
Currency movement changes your real cost too. Tuition set in a strong currency against your home currency raises your effective cost every year you study, so factor exchange rate risk into a multi-year program the same way you factor tuition.
Popular does not mean best ROI
Australia, Canada, the UK and the US all tightened intake settings between 2024 and 2026, through enrolment planning levels, study permit caps, dependants restrictions or tighter visa vetting, which makes admission and post-study work harder to plan around even where tuition and salary data look attractive on paper. A destination with fewer headlines, such as Malaysia, Singapore or a continental European country with low or no tuition for certain programs, sometimes delivers a faster payback simply because the upfront cost is lower, even with a smaller salary on the other side. Run your own comparison instead of assuming the most talked-about destination gives the best return for your specific field.
Post-study work rights decide how long you can recover the cost
A cheap degree with no path to working in the country afterward sometimes pays off worse than an expensive one with a long, secure post-study work window, since your first years of local earnings do the heavy lifting on ROI.
| Destination | Post-study work visa | Duration (2025-26 rules) |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) | 2 years bachelor's/coursework master's, 3 years research master's/PhD, 18 months diploma/trade |
| Canada | Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) | Up to 3 years, restricted to an eligible field-of-study list updated June 2025 |
| UK | Graduate Route | 2 years for now, cut to 18 months for applications from 1 January 2027 |
| US | OPT / STEM OPT | 12 months, or 36 months total for STEM-listed degrees |
Canada's June 2025 update added 119 new eligible fields for non-degree programs while some previously removed fields stay eligible only until early 2026, so check your exact program against the current list before counting on a PGWP. The Graduate Route cut to 18 months applies only to applications from 1 January 2027 onward, so a place accepted before that date keeps the current 2-year route. Australia's subclass 485 visa ties duration directly to your qualification level, so a research master's or PhD buys you an extra year over a coursework degree.
Building your own ROI estimate
List total cost: tuition for the full program plus a realistic annual living budget for the actual city, not the country average.
Check the post-study work visa length and whether your intended field qualifies, since a mismatch means you finish the degree with no local work option.
Look up entry-level salary data for your field in your target city specifically, through national labor ministry or statistics office data, not global averages.
Compare against staying home or choosing a lower-cost destination in the same field, since a smaller but faster payoff sometimes beats a bigger, slower one.
Factor licensing and recognition requirements for regulated fields, since a foreign degree in medicine, law or engineering often needs separate local certification before it earns anything.
Subtract any scholarship or tuition waiver from your cost side before comparing destinations, since a partial scholarship at an expensive destination sometimes beats full self-funding at a cheaper one.