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Public Resources

Resources every family should have access to, in one place.

Links and summaries of publicly available information.

01

IPEDS

National Center for Education Statistics
Summary
Institutional characteristics, admissions, enrollment, published prices, completions, graduation, and retention.
What it helps answer
Whether a school’s size, setting, price, and completion record match what your family is looking for — and how many students actually finish.
Read with care
Reporting cycles lag current conditions, and not every measure applies cleanly to every institution.
Use IPEDS data
02

College Scorecard

U.S. Department of Education
Summary
Institution- and field-level cost and outcomes, including net price, debt, repayment, and earnings.
What it helps answer
What students at this school typically paid, borrowed, and earned — and, where reported, what they earned in one specific field of study.
Read with care
Measures describe groups of students and past outcomes; they do not predict one student’s result. Field-level figures cover federal aid recipients who completed, and are suppressed for small programs.
Open College Scorecard
03

U.S. Department of Education

nces.ed.gov
Summary
The parent site for federal education statistics, with several sub-sites beneath it.
What it helps answer
Where to find the underlying federal collection behind most published college numbers, including surveys that never reach consumer tools.
Read with care
This is a statistical agency, not a college guide. Expect survey documentation rather than advice, and check which collection year you are reading.
Visit NCES
04

College Navigator

National Center for Education Statistics
Summary
Search and compare institutions, programs, admissions considerations, and campus characteristics.
What it helps answer
A quick side-by-side of schools you already have in mind, drawn from the same reported data that feeds IPEDS.
Read with care
It reflects what each school reported for a given year, so a recent change in price, program, or policy may not appear yet.
Search College Navigator
05

Net Price Calculator Center

U.S. Department of Education
Summary
Every college’s required net price calculator, collected in one place.
What it helps answer
An estimate of what students in circumstances like yours paid at a specific school after grants and scholarships.
Read with care
Each calculator is built by the college and they vary in depth. The result is an estimate, not an offer — save the date and the assumptions you entered.
Find a calculator
06

Federal Student Aid

U.S. Department of Education
Summary
The official source for FAFSA, federal grants and loans, and aid-offer guidance.
What it helps answer
What federal aid exists, what you have to file to be considered, and how to read an aid offer once it arrives.
Read with care
Federal deadlines are not the same as state or institutional priority deadlines, which are usually earlier. Check all three.
Visit StudentAid.gov
07

BLS OEWS

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Summary
Occupation wage estimates by area and industry.
What it helps answer
What people in a given occupation earn in a given metro area — useful when a program’s own earnings data is unavailable.
Read with care
Occupation wages are not graduate earnings. They cover everyone in the role regardless of degree, and vary by experience, employer, and economic conditions.
View OEWS tables
08

Occupational Outlook Handbook

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Summary
Typical work, education requirements, pay, and employment outlook by occupation.
What it helps answer
What a job actually involves day to day, what credential it usually requires, and whether the field is projected to grow.
Read with care
Projections are national ten-year estimates. They describe an occupation’s direction, not one graduate’s prospects.
Explore occupations
09

Common App

commonapp.org
Summary
The common application, plus applicant research and planning resources.
What it helps answer
Which schools accept the common application, what each requires as a supplement, and when the current cycle opens.
Read with care
Member requirements and deadlines change every cycle, and not every school uses it. Confirm each college’s rules directly.
Visit Common App
10

College Board — BigFuture

research.collegeboard.org
Summary
Statistics and data trends on testing, admission, and enrollment.
What it helps answer
How testing participation and score distributions are moving, and how that context sits against your student’s own scores.
Read with care
College Board administers the SAT and AP, so it publishes research on products it sells. Read testing findings with that interest in mind.
See College Board research
11

National Student Clearinghouse Research Center

nscresearchcenter.org
Summary
Enrollment, persistence, and completion trends reported by institutions.
What it helps answer
Whether students at a type of school tend to stay enrolled and finish, including transfer students that graduation rates often miss.
Read with care
Coverage is limited to participating institutions, and national trends can differ sharply from any single school.
Read the research
12

National Survey of Student Engagement

nsse.indiana.edu
Summary
Tracks how students actually spend their time at hundreds of colleges.
What it helps answer
What teaching and campus life are like in practice — coursework demands, contact with faculty, and how much students take part.
Read with care
Participation is voluntary and results are not public for every school. A college that does not publish has not necessarily done badly.
Explore NSSE
13

NACE

National Association of Colleges and Employers
Summary
The bridge between colleges and employers, including internship and hiring statistics.
What it helps answer
What employers are hiring for, which majors they recruit, and how often internships convert into offers.
Read with care
Findings come from surveys of member employers and career centers, which skews toward larger organisations and larger schools.
Visit NACE
14

Strada Education Foundation

stradaeducation.org
Summary
Research on the transition from college into the job market.
What it helps answer
Whether graduates end up in work that uses their degree, and what makes that more likely.
Read with care
Research on patterns across many graduates, published by an organisation with its own view on how education should work.
Read Strada research
15

NBER

National Bureau of Economic Research
Summary
Economic research, including work on the returns to higher education.
What it helps answer
What the evidence says about whether, and for whom, a given degree pays off.
Read with care
Working papers circulate before peer review, and findings often disagree with each other. Read more than one.
Browse NBER papers
16

AAUP

American Association of University Professors
Summary
Insight into faculty roles, tenure, and academic working conditions.
What it helps answer
Who will actually teach your student — tenured faculty, contingent instructors, or graduate assistants — and how stable that staffing is.
Read with care
AAUP advocates for faculty. The data is sound; the framing is a position.
Visit AAUP
17

Bain College Analyzer

bain.com
Summary
An interactive comparison of the financial stability of colleges.
What it helps answer
Whether a school’s finances look durable enough that it will still be offering your student’s program in four years.
Read with care
A snapshot built on one model and one year of filings. Financial strain is a risk signal, not a prediction of closure.
Open the analyzer
18

Sallie Mae

salliemae.com
Summary
Private student loans, consolidation, and repayment tools.
What it helps answer
What private borrowing would cost if federal aid does not cover the gap, and how repayment would look month to month.
Read with care
A lender, not a neutral source. Exhaust federal options first — they carry protections private loans do not.
Visit Sallie Mae
19

Inside Higher Ed

insidehighered.com
Summary
A news site covering higher-education policy, funding, and admissions.
What it helps answer
What is changing in policy, funding, and admissions practice, and which institutions are under strain.
Read with care
Journalism, not data. Useful for direction and context; verify any specific figure against the primary source.
Read Inside Higher Ed

How to Read the Numbers

Four checks before you compare colleges.

  1. 01

    Check the year and population.

    Ask when the data was collected and which students it covers. A number can be accurate and still describe a different group than yours.

  2. 02

    Separate average net price from your aid offer.

    Averages and calculators are planning tools. The college’s written financial-aid offer is the family-specific source of truth.

  3. 03

    Treat earnings as context, not destiny.

    Program and occupation measures summarize groups. They cannot account for every location, career path, economic cycle, or individual choice.

  4. 04

    Keep missing data visible.

    Unavailable information is a reason to investigate further—not permission to assume the result is average.