College Scorecard

Spec sheet

Purpose

College Scorecard helps prospective students and their advocates find a fit for postsecondary education.Read 9 Oct 2026 · ed.gov

Intended users

The Department describes the consumer site as serving prospective students and advocates, and says researchers and developers can use its downloadable data and API.Read 9 Oct 2026 · ed.gov

Audience

Researchers and developers can access more than 2,000 downloadable data elements through an API.Read 9 Oct 2026 · ed.gov

Security

The site identifies itself as a U.S. government website and says secure .gov sites use HTTPS.Read 9 Oct 2026 · collegescorecard.ed.gov

Privacy

The API documentation instructs users to keep their API key secure because it is required for all API requests.Read 9 Oct 2026 · collegescorecard.ed.gov

Support

The data page directs users to StackExchange or the help desk at [email protected] for assistance.Read 9 Oct 2026 · collegescorecard.ed.gov

API access

Using the API requires an API key obtained through the registration form after completing a security challenge.Read 9 Oct 2026 · collegescorecard.ed.gov

API coverage

The API supports queries about schools, programs, costs, graduation rates, admissions, and other higher education data.Read 9 Oct 2026 · collegescorecard.ed.gov

API limit

The default API rate limit is 1,000 requests per IP address per hour, and users can contact the help desk to request an increase.Read 9 Oct 2026 · collegescorecard.ed.gov

API limits

API requests return at most 100 results per page, and the documentation says sorting is available only on specified fields.Read 9 Oct 2026 · collegescorecard.ed.gov

College comparison

Users can search and compare colleges using data such as graduation rates, average annual cost, loan repayment rates, and post-completion earnings for fields of study.Read 9 Oct 2026 · ed.gov

College comparisons

The consumer site lets users search and compare colleges using measures including graduation rates, average annual cost, loan repayment rates, and post-completion earnings by field of study.Read 9 Oct 2026 · ed.gov

Data caveat

The latest available value for each metric may come from a different year because data are published at different times.Read 9 Oct 2026 · collegescorecard.ed.gov

Data coverage

The API provides institution-level and field-of-study data about schools, programs, costs, graduation rates, and admissions.Read 9 Oct 2026 · collegescorecard.ed.gov

Data documentation

The data dictionary describes metrics, their sources, API names, values, notes, and the cohorts each metric represents.Read 9 Oct 2026 · collegescorecard.ed.gov

Data downloads

The download page offers institution-level data for 1996–97 through 2025–26 and field-of-study files for pooled award years through 2019–20.Read 9 Oct 2026 · collegescorecard.ed.gov

Data limitation

The latest available data for different API metrics may come from different years because data are published at different times.Read 9 Oct 2026 · collegescorecard.ed.gov

Data refresh

The downloadable data page says its data was last updated June 10, 2026.Read 9 Oct 2026 · collegescorecard.ed.gov

Data update

The downloadable data page says its data was last updated June 10, 2026.Read 9 Oct 2026 · collegescorecard.ed.gov

Datasets

The API includes institution-level data and field-of-study data, and some variables may not be available for every year.Read 9 Oct 2026 · collegescorecard.ed.gov

Download support

The data page directs users to StackExchange or [email protected] for help.Read 9 Oct 2026 · collegescorecard.ed.gov

Downloads

The data page offers a 470 MB ZIP containing institution-level data for 1996–97 through 2025–26, field-of-study data, and crosswalk files.Read 9 Oct 2026 · collegescorecard.ed.gov

Recent comparison feature

The Department says the search function was enhanced to let users compare student outcomes by field of study.Read 9 Oct 2026 · ed.gov

Where Specifiction places it

• College Search Platforms#17 of 287.5