Master's · Durham, North Carolina

Is International Business at Duke University worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back fast: graduates typically recover the cost in about 1.7 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $232,560; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $199,161; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $138,905; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Typical borrowing (no graduate net price is published): $147k (likely $147k – $147k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $139k a year vs bachelor's graduates 4 years out in NC; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 1.7 years (likely 1.4–2.1); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $1.02M (likely $802k – $1.25M); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $2.37M (likely $1.96M – $2.83M); Today's dollars

Scorecard reports no net price for graduate programs; cost is based on what graduates typically borrowed.