This calculator provides a search function that returns basic financial information about a college you may be considering. The information provided includes 1) graduation rate, 2) median earnings, and 3) average annual cost. This tool also allows you to compare various schools. We source the data directly from a US government repository. Below we provide a description of the outputs. In future versions of TPE we will integrate this data into our student loan calculator.
Average Annual CostThis is the average annual cost to attend net of typical grants and scholarships. The annual cost for public schools uses in state tuition.
Graduation RateThe graduation rate is the share of students who graduated within 8 years of entering this school for the first time. Generally, a higher graduation rate is better, but some schools may have a lower graduation rate owing to a high transfer rate. Therefore, a low graduation rate doesn’t means students are dropping out but rather could mean students are transferring to other schools.
Median EarningsThe median annual earnings of individuals that received federal student aid and began college at this institution 10 years ago, regardless of their completion status.
It's a search tool that returns key financial information about a college you're considering — graduation rate, median earnings of graduates, and average annual cost — sourced directly from a US government data repository.
Yes, the tool lets you search for and compare several schools side by side across graduation rate, median earnings, and average annual cost.
The data is sourced directly from a US government repository that tracks college outcomes and costs, rather than from the schools themselves or self-reported marketing figures.
It reflects what graduates from that school are typically earning after graduation, which can be a useful signal of a school's return on investment relative to its cost.
The Student Loan Calculator helps you model how you'd finance the cost shown here, and future versions of TPE plan to integrate this college data directly into that calculator.
