Data & Methodology
Updated October 8, 2021
Most people don't have the time to research college costs on every college website, to find the market rates on financing options for college and to synthesize key research on college return on investment (ROI), but we do. Since we are committed to helping students and families make informed decisions about paying for college, we created the our college financial planner (powered by Quatromoney, a division of Pay4Education) to use a variety of data sources from the federal government and distinguished research organizations including:
- US Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics
- College Board’s Trends in College Pricing
- US Department of Education’s College Scorecard.
- Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce College ROI Tool
- Federal Reserve’s Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households
- National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE)'s Salary Survey report
In addition, the financing data sources include the US Department of Education’s Federal Direct Loan Program and our private financing partner’s (see Disclosures on the Widget in use for more details).
Data for college type, acceptance rate, college and national 4-year graduation rate, paying sticker price rate, income-based net price, average net price, sticker price, Out-of-state Sticker Price, Tuition & Fees Only price are derived from the most recent Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) report from NCES.
Data for estimated first year earnings by college comes from the most recent College Scorecard report, but is limited to only students who received federal financial aid at the time of enrollment.
Data for the 30-year career earnings comes from the most recent Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University ROI Tool.
Data for the national average of student loan monthly payments comes from the most recent Federal Reserve report.
Data for the national average first year earnings for college graduates comes from the most recent Salary Survey from NACE.
The College Value Factor™ utilizes a combination of 4-year graduation rate, estimated first year earnings, and estimated career earnings with personalized calculations of estimated monthly payments based on selected financing chosen for a specific college while using the planner.
If you have questions, email us at [email protected].