A Study of the Internal Rate of Return to Higher Education: Focusing on Health and Natural Science Majors

The privatization of education costs has increased the interest in the accountability of colleges with discussions on how much profit an individual can return to society after being educated, considering the cost that he or she paid. This study aims to estimate the return on investment of health science graduates versus natural science graduates in Korea, using internal rates of return with the survey results of the industrial and occupational employment structure. A national survey on the industrial and occupational employment of Korea was extracted from those who graduated with majors in health science and those who graduated with majors in natural science. The results reveal that college graduates majoring in the health sciences make 20% additional annual earnings in the labor market compared to those majoring in the natural sciences.