Assume that by continuing your education you increased yearly earning potential from $21484 to $39746. if the additional costs $36000 in about how many years will It pay for itself?

The increase in yearly earnings is $39746 - $21484 = $18262

To find out how many years it takes for the additional education costs to pay for themselves, we divide the total cost by the annual increase in earnings:

$36000 / $18262 ≈ 1.97 years

Therefore, it will take approximately $\boxed{2}$ years for the additional education costs to pay for themselves.