- College Scorecard
- Net price
- Cost of attendance (sticker price)
- Median graduate earnings
- Field of study (CIP code)
- Completion (graduation) rate
- Median student debt
- Admission rate
- Ownership: public / private nonprofit / private for-profit
- Suppressed / not reported
- College Scorecard
- The U.S. Department of Education's dataset of institution- and program-level figures on cost, admissions, completion, debt and post-enrollment earnings. Almost every number on this site comes from it.
- Net price
- The average yearly cost of attendance minus grant and scholarship aid, for students who received federal financial aid. It is usually far below the published sticker price and is the more realistic figure to compare.
- Cost of attendance (sticker price)
- The full published cost for a year — tuition and fees plus an allowance for housing, books and living expenses. Few aided students pay this amount.
- Median graduate earnings
- The midpoint earnings of former students, typically measured through federal tax records a set number of years after they first enrolled. It describes a specific past cohort — it is not a projection or a promise about a future graduate.
- Field of study (CIP code)
- A standardized classification of academic programs. Field-of-study earnings and debt are reported for a specific program at a specific school, which is the most useful comparison when choosing a major.
- Completion (graduation) rate
- The share of students who finished their program within a set time. Definitions vary by institution type, so compare four-year colleges with four-year colleges and community colleges with community colleges.
- Median student debt
- The midpoint of federal loan debt that borrowers from an institution (or program) had at graduation. It excludes private loans and Parent PLUS loans, so real total borrowing can be higher.
- Admission rate
- The share of applicants offered admission. A low rate signals selectivity; open-admission and community colleges may not report one.
- Ownership: public / private nonprofit / private for-profit
- Public colleges are state-run; private nonprofit colleges are independent institutions; private for-profit colleges are run as businesses. Cost, aid and outcomes differ markedly across the three.
- Suppressed / not reported
- The Department withholds a figure when too few students are involved to report it reliably or without identifying individuals. A blank is not a zero and not a bad result.
More on sources and caveats on the About the Data page and the FAQ.