Methodology
How the figures are built
Public federal data, each college's own published documents, and reads we built to turn them into decisions.
Where the figures come from
Cost, earnings, graduation and admission figures come from the U.S. Department of Education: the College Scorecard and IPEDS, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. Test ranges, the factors a college weighs and campus housing come from each college's Common Data Set. Scholarships, program admission and aid policies come from the pages the colleges and sponsors publish.
Where no current total price is published, the most recent federal total is carried forward at 3% a year.
Average cost after aid
What first-year students who received federal aid paid in a year, after grants and scholarships. A cost by income range is left blank when too few students in that range stand behind it. Figures for public colleges are for in-state students.
Annual cost answers what one year costs today. The 4-year figure runs that price forward with an annual increase, so it is always more than the first year multiplied by 4.
The college atlas
Each view sets 2 published figures against each other, such as admission rate and earnings. The colleges suggested under a view come from the colleges that match your filters, spread across admission rates so the list is not only the most selective. They are suggestions, not a ranking.
Earnings are compared with colleges that teach the same mix of programs, so a college does not stand out just for offering fields that pay more.
Two published figures, one on each axis, and a college for every dot. The line is the general direction across the colleges shown, not a target. A dot above it earns more than the direction would suggest for its admission rate; that is a question to look into, not a verdict.
Your shortlist and Admissions 360
Where a college sits on your shortlist comes from your grades and scores against that college's admitted class, its admission rate, and what it says it weighs. It is not a probability of admission.
Admissions 360 reads each part of an application the way admission offices describe reading it. A part with too little to go on is marked not rated yet, never weak.
High reach
Reach
Competitive
Likely
Strong likely
Where a college sits on your list is a position on this scale. It is not a chance of admission, and multiplying it by anything gives a number that means nothing.
ActivitiesCredible
Teacher supportNot rated yet
A rated axis has a position on its own four-step scale — Standout, Competitive, Credible, Developing. The words are deliberately not the shortlist's: one answers how a college is likely to read a part of your application, the other answers where a college sits on your list, and a shared vocabulary would suggest the two can be compared. An axis with too little to go on gets no position at all, and is left out of anything that counts your strengths. It never becomes the lowest step.