Choosing whether to pursue postsecondary education or training is one of the most significant financial decisions anyone will make. For many Hoosiers, the question isn't just whether to go to school; it’s whether school will actually pay off.

The Return on College (ROC) tool, now available on Hoosiers by the Numbers (HBTN), helps answer this question with personalized insights. This AI-enhanced calculator, developed as a partnership between the Indiana Business Research Center, Indiana Department of Workforce Development and Vantage Point Consulting¹, estimates the return on investment (ROI) for specific educational programs, while also considering your current situation, the costs of attending school and the long-term earnings potential for graduates of your chosen program.

What makes this version of ROC particularly valuable for workers and learners is its expanded scope. While the original tool, also developed by Vantage Point, focused primarily on four-year degrees, this version includes short-term certificates and associate degrees. This enhancement reflects the reality that not everyone needs a bachelor's degree to see meaningful wage gains, and many high-demand careers require credentials that can be completed sooner or while working.

The tool walks users through a straightforward process: Select a program and institution, provide basic background information (e.g., age, highest level of education, most recent job, etc.) and funding sources (e.g., student loans, out of pocket, etc.), and receive a personalized ROI report. That report breaks down the financial picture — from break-even timeline to lifetime return — in clear language. Users can even pick from a list of follow-up questions to dive into the report further. Finally, you can explore how stacking additional credentials might further boost earnings over time.

For worker-learners weighing whether to invest time and money in education, ROC transforms abstract questions into concrete numbers, helping Hoosiers make decisions that align with both their career goals and financial realities. ROC is designed for anyone considering postsecondary education, whether you're a high school student planning your next step, a worker looking to upskill or someone considering a career change. It's particularly useful if you're comparing multiple programs or trying to understand whether a specific credential will justify the investment.

Getting started with ROC

You can find the ROC calculator on Hoosiers by the Numbers, Indiana’s flagship labor market information resource. Click the link above or, on HBTN, use the navigation bar to select “Tools” > “Return on College Calculator.” From the landing page, choose a college or university, a degree level and a degree program to get started.

Depending on which college or university you choose, only the available options will populate in the two other fields. For example, if you pick Ivy Tech Community College, only certificates and associate degrees will be available in the dropdown, and only programs Ivy Tech offers will populate the auto complete in the degree name field. See Figure 1 for an example search.

Figure 1: ROC tool start page

Source: Hoosiers by the Numbers

On the next page, answer a few questions about your background, current financial situation and where you want to live after completing your chosen degree program (see Figure 2). After answering all six questions, click “Continue to College Costs.”

Figure 2: "Your Background" page on ROC tool

Source: Hoosiers by the Numbers

Now, answer a few questions about your residency, credit load (full- or part-time), family income and expected living situation so the calculator can estimate how much college might cost you (see Figure 3). The tool sources its information on college costs from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) at the U.S. Department of Education. This is the “investment” part of the return on investment calculation: How much of your own resources — time and money — do you have to invest to earn the desired credential? Click “Continue to College Funding” to move on to the next page.

Figure 3: "Your College Costs" page on ROC tool

Source: Hoosiers by the Numbers

Here, you can refine how you’re going to pay for college. The calculator defaults to your total cost of attendance being paid out of pocket, but if you’re expecting military benefits or other financial support, you can adjust those sliders. For example, if you’re expecting to receive a $3,000 Pell Grant, adjust the “Other Financial Support” slider to that amount and watch as your out-of-pocket expense decreases. If your out-of-pocket expense is still too high for you, lower that slider and the federal loan amount will increase automatically (see Figure 4).

If you end up taking out student loans, future payments on those loans will be factored into the ROI report. Click “Continue to Your College ROI Report” to move on to the main event.

Figure 4: "Your College Funding" page on ROC tool

Source: Hoosiers by the Numbers

Your personalized return on college

Finally, the tool will give you the full ROI report (an example of which is presented below in Figure 5), complete with its recommendations about whether the program is worth it given its earnings potential. It estimates this earnings potential based on a combination of outcomes data from the NCES and, for Indiana public colleges, data on earnings from individuals who have completed the degree sourced from administrative wage and education records.

Augmenting the tool’s recommendation and your personalized income projection are these reports:

• Your ROI: break-even point, 10-year and lifetime ROI.
• Cost-benefit analysis: total program cost, estimated monthly expenses over the course of earning the degree — these will be low if you indicate you’re living off-campus with family, because it assumes you aren’t paying anything for living expenses — lifetime and monthly income boost after earning the degree, and your student loan payment.
• Credential stacking opportunities: If you continue your education even further, how much more could you earn?

Figure 5: "Your College ROI Report" page on ROC tool

Source: Hoosiers by the Numbers

You can export your report if you’re finished, or you can ask some follow-up questions to the AI Advisor, as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6: ROC AI Advisor on ROC tool

Source: Hoosiers by the Numbers

Conclusion

ROC provides access to important data about college costs and benefits in an easy-to-use interface that contextualizes it and makes it actionable for anyone considering furthering their education. Like any data product, it comes with caveats you should consider:

• Limited expense modeling: The tool estimates some basic living expenses while you’re in school and loan payments after, but doesn't begin to capture the full complexity of individual financial situations.
• Data limitations: Earnings projections are based on historical outcomes and may not perfectly predict future wage trends, especially in rapidly evolving industries.
• Individual variation: Your actual ROI will depend on factors the calculator can't measure — like how well you network, your career choices and whether you complete the program on schedule.

While ROC can help you understand the dollars-and-cents return, higher education isn’t a math equation. People pursue education for unmeasurable reasons: mastering new skills, gaining confidence or simply the desire to learn (the “love of the game,” so to speak). For working adults, especially, the financial payoff of higher education matters, but so does finding work that feels meaningful, stable or aligned with their interests.

The ROC calculator is just one tool in the toolbox. Use it to understand the financial picture, then factor in everything else that matters to you. The numbers are important, but they’re not the whole story.

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WASHINGTON, D.C., March 9, 2026 — Vantage Point Consulting Inc (VPC), a veteran-owned small business with two decades of experience delivering federal and enterprise technology programs, today announced the launch of Solari Technologies, an AI-native consulting firm designed from the ground up for organizations that need to move from AI experimentation to AI delivery.

Unlike traditional consulting firms that have added AI capabilities to existing service models, Solari Technologies was built around a fundamentally different delivery architecture: small, senior-led strike teams of five specialists,fixed-price engagements, and delivery timelines measured in weeks rather than months. The firm has already demonstrated the model in practice. A client engagement scoped as a six-month, four-resource project was delivered in three days under the Solari model.

"After two decades building technology programs for federal agencies and enterprise clients, we saw the opening before it became obvious. Solari is not VPC with AI added. It is a new firm designed for how AI delivery actually works, and we have already proved the model works."

— Cristine Carpenter, President, Vantage Point Consulting and Founder, Solari Technologies

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A New Delivery Model for a New Era

Solari Technologies introduces five new roles that replace the traditional PM-to-developer hand off chain that defines most consulting engagements: AI Project Manager, Context Engineer, AI-Native Developer & Engineer, Design-Engineer Hybrid, and AI Governance Specialist. For federal and regulated environments where ATO, RMF, HIPAA, and FERPA compliance requirements are central to every technology deployment, Solari brings a sixth role: Security & Compliance Architect.

The model is outcome-priced rather than hourly billed, and engagements begin with working prototypes rather than lengthy discovery phases.

"AI-native does not mean we use AI. It means our people are organized around AI tools the way organizations are organized around email. It is the infrastructure of how we work, not a feature we offer."

— Cristine Carpenter

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Built on Two Decades of Federal Trust

Solari Technologies operates as an AI-native subsidiary of Vantage Point Consulting,which holds VOSB and WOSB certifications and has served federal agencies and higher education institutions for twenty years. The firm's federal delivery work is supported by a partnership with Trillion Technology Solutions, bringing DevSecOps capabilities and cleared facilities to AI-native engagements that require them.

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Market Context

Research consistently shows that the vast majority of enterprise AI pilots fail to deliver meaningful return on investment, not because of technology limitations, but because of missing delivery infrastructure and teams built for a pre-AI world. Separately, recent commentary from Y Combinator suggests that small AI-native teams can now out compete traditional firms many times their size. Solari Technologies was designed to bring that same productivity multiplier to consulting delivery at the federal and enterprise scale.

"The window to establish AI-native capability is open right now. Solari Technologies dove through it. And we made it bigger."

— Cristine Carpenter

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Availability

Solari Technologies is available for federal, higher education, and enterprise engagements beginning immediately. The firm has published two white papers, The AI-Native Federal Contractor and The AI-Native Agency,providing deeper insight into the business case for AI-native consulting. Both are available for download at solaritechnologies.com.

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About Solari Technologies

Solari Technologies is an AI-native consulting firm and subsidiary of Vantage Point Consulting, backed by 20+ years of federal and enterprise delivery experience. Solari delivers AI strategy, application development, and organizational transformation through fixed-price, senior-led strike team engagements. Learn more at solaritechnologies.com.

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About Vantage Point Consulting

Vantage Point Consulting is a veteran-owned small business (VOSB/WOSB) with two decades of experience delivering technology programs for federal agencies and higher education institutions. VPC is the parent company of Solari Technologies. Learn more at vantagepointconsulting.com.

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Featured Article

The American Legion recently featured Cristine Carpenter, President and Co-Founder of Vantage Point Consulting Inc, in a story about her journey from Navy veteran to entrepreneur and how her experiences inspired the creation of Career Path DECIDE. Cristine’s story reflects the heart of our mission: ensuring that service members, veterans, and military families have the tools, resources, and guidance they need to thrive in their next chapter after service. Read the full story on Legiontown: https://www.legiontown.org/other/14645/what-comes-next-after-service-navy-veteran%E2%80%99s-story-inspired-career-path-decide

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What comes next after service? A Navy veteran’s story that inspired Career Path DECIDE

West Linn, OR

September 25, 2025

When Cristine Carpenter transitioned out of the Navy, she carried the same questions many servicemembers do: What comes next? For me, for my career, for my family? How do I make the most of my education benefits? The transition process felt uncertain, and she wished for a guide that could help her see the road ahead more clearly.

That longing turned into a mission. After founding a small business, Cristine and her team would go on to create Career Path DECIDE (CPD) — a free, easy-to-use platform that has become a crucial toll in the exploration and planning toolbelt for more than a million veterans, servicemembers and military families since its launch in 2018. For many, it has been the stable co-pilot at their side, helping them chart a course to the right civilian career after leaving the military and weigh the best education options to get there.

Earlier this year, when CPD went offline due to federal budget cuts, thousands felt the loss. Veterans trying to figure out how to best use their tuition assistance dollars, families guiding their children toward college and active-duty servicemembers planning ahead all suddenly lost a trusted compass.

Cristine understood that pain. “When I was serving, I struggled to know how to use my tuition assistance to prepare for life after the Navy,” she shared. “That’s why I believe CPD is more than a tool — it’s a lifeline.”

Thanks to the generosity of philanthropic sponsors Walmart, the Schultz Family Foundation and the Tullman Family Office, and support from partners like the American Council on Education (ACE) and Student Veterans of America (SVA), CPD relaunched in August, more accessible than ever before. Now anyone can use it, free of charge, to explore potential careers, match their skills to the best education programs and set confident goals to make a plan for the future.

For veterans, it means a smoother path into civilian life. For American Legion families, it means children and grandchildren have a place to turn when deciding on majors, careers or mid-life changes. And for Cristine, it means knowing others won’t have to face transition alone.

Career Path DECIDE is a companion for every step of the career and education journey, helping veterans and their families move from uncertainty to opportunity.

Explore it today at www.careerpathdecide.org.

To learn more about Cristine and her company, visit https://www.vantagepoint-inc.com.

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