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◆ WHAT'S ACTUALLY AT STAKE

Same student. Two futures.

Same brain. Same dreams. Same family. The only difference is whether someone showed them the numbers before they signed. Every figure below is sourced. See the citations at the bottom of this page.

Right now, somewhere, a 17-year-old is signing on $130,000 in loans for a degree that pays $44,700.[1][2]

They don't know it yet. Their parents don't know it yet. The acceptance letter felt like good news. The loan paperwork felt like a formality. Five years from now, it won't. The numbers below aren't worst-case — they're average-case, pulled from BLS, NACE, and the College Board.

Meet Sarah. She's 17 and considering a Psychology major.
WITHOUT PATHWISE
$0 spent on data  ·  Picks based on her favorite AP class
→Goes out-of-state to a private school. Sticker COA averages $65,470/yr[3]. No aid optimization.
→Takes "Intro" courses. No focus area. No internships her first 2 summers.
→Graduates with ~$70,000 in debt[4] — well above the private-grad average.
→Lands an entry-level case-management role. Starting salary: $42,000[1].
→At 28, scrolls Indeed at 1am. Considers a career pivot. Realizes she can't afford to start over.
→At 30, watches HS friends close on houses. Still renting. Still paying for a choice she made at 17.
"I wish someone had shown me the numbers before I signed."
— Sarah, age 30 (illustrative)
WITH PATHWISE
$19.99 spent on data  ·  Reads her Psychology report first
→Sees the data: Psychology bachelor's median starts at ~$44,700[1] — but UX research with a Statistics minor opens $60K–$85K+ entry roles[5].
→Picks in-state public + Statistics minor. Targets UX research from year 1.
→Three internships across her 4 years. Builds a portfolio.
→Graduates with ~$24,000 in debt — below the public-grad average of $35,530[4].
→Lands UX research role at a tech company. Starting salary: $72,000[5].
→Debt-free by year 3. Calls her mom from her own apartment to say "I made it."
→At 30, buying her first home. Loves what she does. Sleeps through the night.
"Best $19.99 my parents ever spent on me."
— Sarah, age 30 (illustrative)
Meet Marcus. He's 18, deciding between schools for a CS degree.
WITHOUT PATHWISE
$0 spent on data  ·  Picks the "name brand" private school
→Mid-tier private school, no specific CS rep. Full COA: ~$70K/yr[3].
→No specialization. Misses recruiting cycles. Skips internships.
→Graduates with ~$80,000 in debt[4] — twice the private-grad average due to no aid optimization.
→Junior CS market tightens (AI replacing entry-level). Lands a $76K dev role[2] at a small firm.
→Skips his 5-year reunion. Can't face the LinkedIn comparison.
→At 28, watches former classmates leapfrog him at FAANG. Still owes ~$45K.
"I picked the school. I never picked the future. Big difference."
— Marcus, age 28 (illustrative)
WITH PATHWISE
$19.99 spent on data  ·  Reads his CS report first
→Sees ROI by school tier: top public CS programs out-perform mid-tier privates by a wide margin in early-career earnings.
→Picks a top in-state public CS program. Pursues ML specialization from year 1.
→Internships every summer at top tech companies. AI-resistant focus area.
→Graduates with ~$30,000 in debt — below the public-grad average[4].
→Lands ML Engineer role at a top tech company. Starting compensation can exceed $150K (CS new-grad median is $76,251[2]; FAANG ML roles trend much higher).
→Debt-free by year 2. Buys his parents the vacation they never took.
→At 28, senior engineer. The 17-year-old version of him would not believe this.
"$19.99 saved me $50K and four years of 'what if I'd just…'"
— Marcus, age 28 (illustrative)
About these scenarios: Sarah and Marcus are illustrative composite students, not real people. Every dollar figure cited is pulled from verified public sources (BLS, NACE, College Board, EducationData.org) and reflects national averages or published ranges. Individual outcomes vary by school, location, financial aid, and employer. The point isn't that these exact numbers will be yours — it's that decisions made without data tend to land on the left, and decisions made with data tend to land on the right.
◆ SOURCES

Every number on this page, traced.

  1. [1]Psychology bachelor's median wage ($65,000 overall, ~$44,700 entry-level). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Field of Degree: Psychology.
  2. [2]Computer Science bachelor's projected starting salary, Class of 2025: $76,251. NACE 2025 Winter Salary Survey.
  3. [3]Average total cost of attendance, private nonprofit 4-year (2025–26): $65,470/yr. Avg sticker tuition + fees: $45,000. College Board — Trends in College Pricing 2025.
  4. [5]UX Researcher entry-level salary: $60K (Payscale national avg) to $85K+ (Glassdoor at larger firms). Payscale / Glassdoor.

Which version of you do you want to meet at 30?

Pathwise costs less than a takeout dinner.
Not knowing costs the next ten years of your life.

GET YOUR REPORT — $19.99 →