Our methodology starts with U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard and IPEDS-derived fields. The goal is to compare university tuition fees, in-state tuition, out-of-state tuition, cost per year, net price, acceptance rate, SAT/ACT signals, financial aid, majors, graduation rate, salary after graduation and ROI with clear labels and no invented values.
Because federal education data is reported at different times and with different suppression rules, not every school has every metric. That is why a school may have tuition but not room and board, aid data but no calculator URL, net price but no selective admissions rate, SAT data but no ACT data, or earnings but limited program context. GPA requirements, application deadlines, how to apply steps, scholarship offers, rankings and best programs are verified through official school resources when federal fields do not provide them.
Federal Data Tables Used
school_costs: tuition fees, in-state tuition, out-of-state tuition, cost per year, attendance cost, average net price, income-level net price, room and board, books and other expense fields where reported.school_aids: Pell Grant rate, federal loan rate and other aid signals used to explain how grants and borrowing relate to net price.school_locations: official website, net price calculator URL, address, latitude/longitude, accreditor and ownership context used for verification links.school_admissions: acceptance rate, SAT requirements signals and ACT requirements signals used for admissions research.school_programs: major and program signals where available for majors and best-program research prompts.school_students,school_completionsandschool_earnings: enrollment, graduation rate and salary after graduation data used for ROI context.
Verification Rules
- Cost and aid values are displayed only when the source field exists per College Scorecard.
- Missing tuition, fee, aid, room and board or calculator fields are not estimated from peer schools.
- School pages link to official school resources when available so readers can verify current year figures.
- GPA requirements, application deadlines, how to apply steps, rankings, phone numbers, FAFSA school codes, scholarship offers and best-program claims are not invented.
- Tuition fees, admissions requirements, majors and ROI are presented together so readers can compare cost, fit and outcomes before applying.
Update Schedule and Verification
Data is sourced per College Scorecard annual release, typically published in October each year. The current dataset reflects the 2026 local import available on college-guides. Readers should always verify current tuition fees, admissions requirements, application deadlines, financial aid, scholarships, majors, rankings and program details directly with the institution before applying or enrolling.
How Missing Data Is Handled
If a value is missing, the public page explains that the value is not reported in the relevant federal field. A missing tuition component, net price by income bracket, room and board value, test-score value, program value or net price calculator URL does not mean the school has no cost or no admissions requirement; it means that specific field was not available in the federal source data used for this guide. Broad-access or open-enrollment institutions may not report a selective admissions rate, and some outcomes can be suppressed or unavailable.
Data Coverage Summary
| Metric | Schools with data | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Total schools | 6,321 | All institutions per College Scorecard. |
| Acceptance rate | 1,930 | Admissions selectivity where reported. |
| SAT / ACT | 1,071 / 967 | Admissions test-score signals where available. |
| Tuition fees | 3,686 | Published tuition fields where available. |
| Net price | 5,064 | Average cost after grants and scholarships. |
| Majors / programs | 5,672 | Program signals for major and best-program research. |
| Earnings outcomes | 5,183 | Salary after graduation data used for ROI context. |
Definitions of the Main Data Pillars
Tuition Fees and Cost Per Year
Tuition is the published instructional charge reported by the school or federal dataset. Cost per year may include tuition fees, room and board, books, other expenses and attendance-cost fields where reported.
Net Price
Net price estimates average cost after grants and scholarships. It is often more useful than sticker price when families compare affordability.
Financial Aid
Aid fields include Pell Grant rate, federal loan rate and related affordability signals where reported. Grants and scholarships can lower net price, while loans usually finance a cost rather than reduce it.
Admissions Requirements
Acceptance rate is generally admitted applicants divided by total applicants. SAT requirements, ACT requirements, GPA requirements, application deadlines and how to apply steps should be verified with the official admissions office because policies change.
Majors, Salary and ROI
Student outcomes can include graduation rate, 10-year median earnings, enrollment context and repayment-related fields. These values help readers compare salary after graduation and ROI across similar school types and should be verified with official school sources.
For full definitions of every metric used on this site, see our Glossary.