shouldiuse.io

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VERDICT

Should I use Collegescorecard?

Free U.S. Department of Education college data - collegescorecard.ed.gov

Worth it. Use it if you're comparing US colleges on cost, graduation, and earnings — it's free, authoritative federal data. Skip it if you want rankings, student reviews, or a tool that picks a school for you.

Confidence

Medium. Based on ~20 public sources; snippets were truncated, limiting quote depth.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo support evidence in sources.
  • Security postureNo findings reported either way.

Pricing

$0

Public access

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Prospective students comparing US colleges
  • Parents weighing cost vs. outcomes
  • Researchers and data analysts
  • High school counselors

Not for

  • Anyone wanting student reviews or campus culture
  • Users expecting ranked 'best college' lists
  • Non-US college searches
  • Casual browsers wanting one quick recommendation

Gotchas - check before you buy

medium

Earnings are broad federal definitions per program, not individual outcomes — read the glossary.

medium

Salary figures reflect graduates years out, not the current job market.

low

Deep analysis means downloading big files; third-party scrapers exist to fill the gap.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free, official federal data on cost, graduation, and earnings.
  • Full datasets downloadable for research.
  • Program-level salary medians for specific majors.
  • Simple, graphical presentation designed for students.

Cons

  • House committee graded it 'Incomplete' on metrics.
  • Technical Review Panel flagged methodology issues needing fixes.
  • IHEP analysis found significant challenges with a data rollout.
  • Users openly question whether people actually use it.

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/26/2026 - 12 sources - No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

official x4review x6news x2

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • $0

    Starting price

  • 12

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Free taxpayer-funded data; nothing cheaper.
  • Ease of use: 4/5. Simple graphical interface; deep data adds friction.
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Full federal dataset and downloads; no reviews or rankings.
  • Support quality. No support evidence in sources.
  • Security posture. No findings reported either way.
  • Free Price U.S. Department of Education
  • 2013 Launched Obama-era transparency initiative
  • US colleges nationwide Coverage cost, graduation, earnings
  • Full downloads Bulk data institution and field-of-study datasets

Pricing

Public access

$0

  • Compare colleges on cost, graduation, earnings
  • Download full institution and field-of-study datasets

Security

No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

What users say

Reddit users debate its usefulness — some question awareness of the tool while others actively build analyses on its data.

“Do People use College Scorecard?”
Reddit, r/ApplyingToCollege
“Fun with College Scorecard Data”
Reddit, r/ApplyingToCollege
“How useful is the College Scorecard, a federal website that shares broad earnings outcomes for college programs for students and their families”
Quora
Full analysis

Based on ~20 public sources; snippets were truncated, limiting quote depth.

Free federal data on college cost, graduation, and earnings. Great for comparing; no reviews or rankings.

Methodology

Based on ~20 public sources; snippets were truncated, limiting quote depth.

Sources

  1. College Scorecard: Homecollegescorecard.ed.gov
    official
  2. Data Home - College Scorecardcollegescorecard.ed.gov
    official
  3. Search Colleges | College Scorecardcollegescorecard.ed.gov
    official
  4. Glossary - College Scorecardcollegescorecard.ed.gov
    official
  5. Do People use College Scorecard?reddit.com
    review
  6. Fun with College Scorecard Datareddit.com
    review
  7. College Scorecard CS median salaries 4 years outreddit.com
    review
  8. Grading the Administration's College Scorecard: Incompleteedworkforce.house.gov
    news
  9. Report and Suggestions from College Scorecard Technical Review Paneledsurveys.rti.org
    review
  10. New College Scorecard: Will Students Use It?newamerica.org
    review
  11. U.S. Department of Education Launches College Scorecardstudyinthestates.dhs.gov
    news
  12. College Scorecard Scraper - US College Data APIapify.com
    review

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