MBA / MPCS
University of Chicago · 21 months
| Year 1 (3 qtrs) | $96,084 |
| Year 2 (3 qtrs) | $92,619 |
| Program Fees | $6,199 |
| Gross Tuition | $194,902 |
MMM
Northwestern University · 24 months
| Year 1 (4 qtrs incl. summer) | $115,160 |
| Year 2 (3 qtrs) | $86,370 |
| Program Fees | $7,603 |
| Gross Tuition | $209,133 |
How we calculate costs
Tuition figures are sourced from official 2025-26 university pages. Booth MBA/MPCS charges a higher per-quarter rate ($32,028 vs $29,118 standard MBA). Kellogg MMM has the same per-quarter rate as the 2Y MBA ($28,790) but includes an extra summer quarter in Year 1.
- Booth: Y1 $96,084 + $4,690 fees · Y2 $92,619 + $1,509 fees · 21 months living
- Kellogg: Y1 $115,160 + $5,091 fees · Y2 $86,370 + $2,512 fees · 24 months living
Scholarships split proportionally by quarters. Cost of Attendance = Net Tuition + Total Living.
About this data
Bars show year-over-year INR depreciation (red = weaker, green = stronger). The line tracks the absolute INR/USD rate. Historical data uses year-end approximate rates from 2016-2025.
The 2026* data point is the live rate fetched from open.er-api.com on page load. Its depreciation is computed against the 2025 year-end rate (₹88.72).
10-year average: ~3.5% annual depreciation (CAGR). Excluding the 2021 anomaly (rupee strengthened during COVID recovery), the average is ~4.2%. Worst year: 2022 at 9.1% (Ukraine war, Fed hikes). This historical range informs the default depreciation slider.
US Loan
Booth
Kellogg
Indian Bank Loan
SBI / HDFC / ICICIBooth
Kellogg
How we calculate loan costs
Amortization formula (same for both loan types):
EMI = P × r(1+r)^n / ((1+r)^n - 1)
where P = principal, r = monthly rate (APR/12), n = total monthly payments.
US Loan (Earnest): Borrowed and repaid in USD. Zero fees. The 4 total rows show:
- Total Interest / Repayment (USD) — direct: EMI × n and interest portion from amortization schedule
- Total Interest / Repayment (INR) — each month's USD payment converted to INR at the depreciation-adjusted rate:
payment$ × FX × (1 + dep%)^(month/12). As INR weakens, each USD payment costs more rupees. This shows the true INR burden if comparing against an Indian loan
Indian Bank Loan: Borrowed and repaid in INR, but you need USD to pay tuition.
Disbursement costs (USD → INR):
- Processing fee:
P₹ × fee% × 1.18(18% GST) - TCS:
0.5% × max(P₹ - ₹7L, 0)— refundable - Per-tranche:
(tranche$ × forex%) + SWIFT + correspondent× quarters
The 4 total rows show:
- Total Interest / Repayment (INR) — direct from INR amortization schedule
- Total Interest (USD) — each month's INR interest portion divided by the depreciation-adjusted rate:
interest₹ / (FX × (1 + dep%)^(month/12)). As INR weakens, each EMI costs fewer dollars - Total Repayment (USD) — ∑ of all depreciation-adjusted monthly EMIs + disbursement costs + TCS. This is your effective dollar cost
Year 2: Starting FX rate is compounded: FX × (1 + dep%), reflecting one year of depreciation before disbursement.
Year-over-year: Principal = that year's tuition + fees - proportional scholarship + living. Kellogg Y1 is higher ($115k, summer quarter) while Y2 is $86k.
How we calculate the breakeven
The chart sweeps the Indian loan interest rate from 4% to 15% in 0.25% steps. At each rate, it computes the total USD-equivalent cost of the Indian loan (including all fees, FX conversion, and depreciation effects) and plots it against the fixed US loan total cost.
Three curves are shown for different INR depreciation assumptions (your selected rate ±1.5%) to show how sensitive the breakeven is to FX movement.
Early payoff: When the payoff period is shorter than the loan term, both loans are computed as: regular EMI for the payoff period + lump-sum payment of the remaining balance. This reduces total interest for both loans but affects them differently — the Indian loan's FX advantage shrinks with shorter payoff since there's less time for depreciation to compound.
The exact breakeven rate is found using bisection (binary search) to 0.01% precision.
How to read this chart
Stacked bars show the total cost for the selected year's loan, factoring in early payoff period, INR depreciation, and all transaction fees:
- Principal (gray): The amount borrowed for this year — tuition + fees - scholarship + living
- Interest (blue): Interest paid over the payoff period (not the full loan term if paying early). For Indian loans this is the USD-equivalent after FX depreciation reduces each EMI's dollar cost over time
- Fees & FX costs (amber): Indian loan only — processing + GST, forex markup per quarterly tranche, SWIFT/correspondent fees, TCS
If paying off early, both US and Indian totals reflect: regular EMI payments for the payoff period + lump-sum of remaining balance. The Indian loan benefits from depreciation during the payoff window — a shorter window means less FX advantage.
Booth MBA / MPCS
Kellogg MMM
Loan principal & interest rates are inherited from the Cost & Loan Analysis tab
How we calculate everything on this page
1. In-School + Grace Period Interest Capitalization
Interest accrues during MBA and a post-graduation grace period before repayment starts:
- US loans (Earnest): 25mo school + 9mo grace = 34 months deferral. Compound interest with $25/mo in-school payment. Verified within ~2% of Earnest's actual quotes (difference due to daily vs monthly compounding and per-tranche disbursement timing)
- Indian loans: 30 months moratorium (school + 6mo grace). Simple interest per RBI guidelines:
Balance = Principal × (1 + annual_rate × 30/12)
This capitalized balance is what you see in the loan summary and what the monthly payment is computed on. Tab 1 shows raw loan costs; this page shows post-capitalization repayment.
2. Monthly Payment
M = Balance × r(1+r)^n / ((1+r)^n - 1)
where Balance = capitalized amount, n = target payoff years × 12. You choose the payoff period; the payment adjusts accordingly.
3. Income & Tax
- Monthly balance sheet: Uses base salary only. Taxes computed on base salary (no bonus, signing, or stock)
- Yearly balance sheet: Uses full comp = base salary + annual bonus + signing bonus (Year 1) + stock/equity. All components are taxable
- Federal tax: 2025 brackets, $14,600 standard deduction (single), progressive 10%–37%
- FICA: SS 6.2% (capped $168,600) + Medicare 1.45% + 0.9% above $200k
- State tax: IL 4.95% flat · NY 4%–10.9% progressive · CA 1%–12.3% progressive
4. Balance Sheet Flow
Disposable = Post-tax - Living - Savings (rate%) - Loan payment
5. One-Off Payments & Stock
- Internship stipend: Pre-graduation income. Added to starting net worth directly
- Signing bonus: Month 1 of employment. Taxed as part of Year 1 total comp, flows into disposable
- Stock/equity: Taxable income (included in total comp → taxed → disposable → savings). Not separately added to net worth to avoid double counting. Only appears in yearly view
6. Payoff Simulation (month by month)
- Salary grows annually:
salary × (1 + growth%) - Total comp = salary + bonus + stock + signing (month 1 only)
- Tax on total comp → net monthly
- Disposable = net monthly - living
- Savings = disposable × savings rate %
- Available for loan = disposable - savings
- Payment = min(required, available, balance + interest)
- Interest =
balance × monthly rate - New balance = balance - (payment - interest). If payment < interest, balance grows
- Leftover = available - payment (shown in cash flow as Disposable)
- Continues 24 months past payoff for net worth trajectory
7. Net Worth
Net Worth = Starting NW + Internship + Cumulative Savings - Loan Balance
- During repayment: Only explicit savings (rate %) accumulate. Leftover disposable is NOT added
- After payoff: All disposable (savings + leftover) accumulates since no loan payment
- Starting NW includes the slider value + internship stipend
- No investment returns or asset appreciation modeled
8. Payoff Charts
- Individual: "Remaining" = principal balance + future interest yet to be paid:
balance + (totalInterest - interestPaidSoFar). Starts at total lifetime cost, declines to 0 - Household: Stacked area of Booth + Kellogg remaining amounts
9. Cash Flow Table Columns
- Income: Combined monthly gross for both persons (includes bonus + stock + signing in Year 1)
- Tax: Federal + state + FICA, computed per person at their selected location
- Living: Monthly expenses × months, both persons
- Savings: Explicit savings (rate % of disposable), both persons
- Loan Payments: Total principal + interest paid that year
- Disposable: Leftover after savings + loan payment. Not in net worth during repayment; added after payoff
- Loan Balance: Year-end principal + next year’s projected interest (so Year N balance ≈ Year N+1 payments)
- Net Worth: Combined year-end for both persons (green = positive)
| Booth | Kellogg | Household |
|---|
| Year | Household Income | Total Tax | Living | Savings | Loan Payments | Disposable | Loan Balance | Net Worth |
|---|
Column definitions
- Income: Combined monthly gross (salary + bonus + stock + signing in Y1)
- Tax: Federal + State + FICA, computed per person at their location
- Living: Monthly living expenses, both persons
- Savings: Explicit savings (rate % of disposable), both persons
- Loan Payments: Total principal + interest paid that year
- Disposable: Leftover after savings + loan payment. Not added to net worth during repayment; added after payoff
- Loan Balance: Year-end principal + next year’s projected interest, so Year N balance ≈ Year N+1 payments
- Net Worth: Starting NW + internship + cumulative savings − loan balance. Green = positive