Federal Data

Where Our Data Comes From

Every number on this site traces back to a public dataset published by the U.S. government. No opinion polls, no marketing claims, no guesswork. Here is each source, what it covers, and a link to verify it yourself.

Last updated June 2026

Why Government Data

Colleges that take part in federal student aid programs are required by law to report this data to the U.S. government. It is standardized, quality-checked, and collected the same way for every institution, which makes it genuinely comparable from one college to the next.

That is a different thing from marketing brochures, opinion polls, or rankings shaped by reputation. When this site states a college's net price or graduation rate, that figure was filed by the college itself with a federal agency, under a standard definition that applies to everyone. We report it as published. We do not adjust it.

The data is also free of commercial influence. No one can pay to change a figure or a score on this site. Every number is reported exactly as the government published it.

The Sources

Five public datasets power the entire site. Each link below goes to the official government source.

College Scorecard

U.S. Department of Education

What it provides: Median earnings after graduation, average net price, graduation and completion rates, student loan repayment, and Pell Grant share.
What it powers here: College earnings figures, net price, the ROI and cost tools, and the Value and Affordability sub-scores of the UCD Score.

Visit the official source

IPEDS

National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education

What it provides: Institutional characteristics, enrollment, admissions (acceptance rates and test scores), degree completions by program, finances and endowment, and faculty salaries.
What it powers here: The core facts on every college profile, admissions data, program lists, and the Outcomes and Selectivity sub-scores.

Visit the official source

Bureau of Labor Statistics

U.S. Department of Labor

What it provides: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (median wages and employment by occupation) and Employment Projections (ten-year job growth).
What it powers here: Career wage and growth figures, and the job outlook data shown on major and program pages.

Visit the official source

O*NET

U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration

What it provides: Occupational tasks, required skills, work context, and interest profiles for hundreds of careers.
What it powers here: The day-to-day detail, skills, and work-environment sections of every career profile.

Visit the official source

CIP to SOC Crosswalk

National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics

What it provides: The official mapping between fields of study (CIP codes) and occupations (SOC codes).
What it powers here: The connections between majors, programs, and careers throughout the site.

Visit the official source

Data Vintage

Federal data is released on a recurring cycle. This is the edition of each dataset currently on the site, and when the government released it.

Dataset	Edition	Released
IPEDS	2023-24 collection (final)	Revised through early 2026
College Scorecard	Through the 2025-26 academic year	June 2026
BLS wage data (OEWS)	May 2025 wage estimates	May 2026
BLS Employment Projections	2024-34 projections	August 2025
*ONET**	Database 30.0	August 2025

How the Data Flows

Federal agencies publish their data as raw files. We download those files, clean and standardize them, and load the result into the database that powers this site.

The website itself only reads from that prepared database. It does not invent or estimate the underlying data. Scores and tool results, such as the UCD Score or a calculator output, are worked out from that data using the formulas we publish. When a federal source releases a new year of data, we rebuild from scratch so the whole site moves forward together rather than mixing old and new figures.

Accuracy and Corrections

Every figure here is reported by colleges to the federal government or compiled by federal statisticians. We do not alter the numbers or round them beyond what is needed to display them cleanly.

Before launch, we verify each college's listing against its federal source, so the key details line up before the public ever sees them.

If a college's own records seem to differ from what you see here, the gap usually traces to the reporting year or to the federal definition of a measure, which can be stricter or broader than a college's internal count. If you believe a figure is genuinely wrong, contact us and we will trace it back to the source.