Understanding the Data
How the UCD Score works, what federal data actually measures, and how to read a college profile critically.
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How the UCD Score Works Pillar
The full methodology behind the UCD Score. Peer groups, sub-scores, the 30-100 scale, the small-enrollment cap, and what the score deliberately does not measure.
- UCD Score
- Peer groups
- Sub-scores
- Percentile ranking
- Methodology
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Acceptance Rate Is Overrated. Here's What to Look At.
Why a low acceptance rate signals demand and marketing more than quality, what it actually predicts, and the outcome metrics that tell you more about a college.
- Acceptance rate
- Outcome metrics
- Completion rate
- Earnings
- What matters
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Completion Rates: 4-Year vs 6-Year Grad Rates
Why the federal standard for a bachelor's degree is six years, what the four-year rate really requires, and how to read completion data without misjudging a school.
- Completion rates
- 4-year vs 6-year
- Graduation odds
- Transfer-out
- Reading the data
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Peer Groups: Why We Score Within Them
Why comparing a community college to a research university on one scale is misleading, how the three UCD Score peer groups work, and what a score means within its group.
- Peer groups
- Fair comparison
- Selectivity tiers
- Apples to apples
- Scoring logic
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Reading a College Scorecard Page
How to translate the federal jargon on a College Scorecard page, what each metric means, and which numbers actually matter when comparing colleges.
- College Scorecard
- Key metrics
- Earnings
- Net price
- Reading a profile
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What "Median Earnings 10 Years Out" Actually Means
The federal earnings figure has more caveats than most articles admit. Cohort effects, who is counted, survivorship, and geography, and how to read the number without being misled.
- Median earnings
- 10-year mark
- What it measures
- Caveats
- Field vs school
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Why uscollegedata.com Is Free: The Business Model Explained
A direct answer to the reasonable question of what the catch is. How this site stays free, how it plans to make money, and why the data stays honest regardless.
- Free forever
- Federal data
- No paywall
- How we fund it
- Our mission