Data Sources
Every number on CampusROI traces back to a public government data source. No proprietary surveys. No paid placements. Here's exactly where the data comes from.
Data Vintage
This site uses College Scorecard data from the 2024-2025 release. Earnings figures reflect cohorts who entered college approximately 10 years before the measurement date. Pipeline last run: March 25, 2026. We update scores when the Department of Education releases new data (typically annually in the fall).
Sources
College Scorecard
U.S. Department of Education
Our primary data source. The College Scorecard provides institution-level and field-of-study-level data on costs, earnings, debt, completion rates, and repayment outcomes for Title IV participating institutions.
Fields Used
- Median earnings 6 and 10 years after entry
- Average net price (overall and by income bracket)
- In-state and out-of-state tuition and fees
- Median debt at graduation
- Loan repayment rates (1, 3, 5, and 7 year)
- 6-year completion rate
- Admission rates and SAT/ACT score ranges
- Enrollment and student demographics
- Pell Grant recipient share
- Field-of-study level earnings and debt
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
U.S. Department of Labor
We use BLS data for the baseline high school graduate earnings figure ($35,000 median annual) that forms the reference point for calculating earnings premiums.
Fields Used
- Median annual earnings by educational attainment
- Unemployment rates by education level
Field Mapping Reference
For transparency, here are the exact College Scorecard API fields we use for each metric on the site.
| Metric |
|---|
| Median Earnings (10yr) |
| Median Earnings (6yr) |
| Net Price |
| Tuition (In-State) |
| Tuition (Out-of-State) |
| Median Debt |
| Completion Rate |
| Repayment Rate (3yr) |
| Admission Rate |
| Enrollment |
Data Processing Pipeline
Raw data goes through several processing steps before it appears on the site.
Fetch
Pull data from the College Scorecard API for all bachelor's degree-granting institutions.
Clean
Parse, validate, and normalize fields. Resolve public vs. private net price. Exclude schools missing critical fields (net price, 10yr earnings, completion rate, enrollment).
Score
Calculate raw metrics, compute percentile ranks across all qualifying schools, apply weights, and assign tier labels.
Enrich
Fetch field-of-study (program-level) earnings and debt data. Map CIP codes to readable major names.
Generate
Produce individual school profiles, state aggregations, major summaries, and ranking lists as static JSON.
Validate
Verify scores for 10 benchmark schools (MIT, Stanford, Georgia Tech, etc.) fall within expected ranges.
Known Limitations
Time lag
Earnings data measures outcomes 6-10 years after first enrollment. The job market and salaries may have shifted since these cohorts graduated.
Federal aid recipients only
Earnings data only covers students who received federal financial aid. Students from very high-income families who didn't file FAFSA are not represented.
Medians, not distributions
We report median outcomes. The range of individual outcomes at any school can be very wide, especially at large universities with many majors.
Net price is an average
Average net price across all aided students. Your actual net price depends on family income, merit aid, and other factors.
Suppressed data
The Department of Education suppresses data for small cell sizes (fewer than 30 students in a category) to protect privacy. Some fields may be unavailable for smaller programs.
Disclaimer
CampusROI is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education or any government agency. We are an independent site that processes publicly available data. Scores and analysis are our own calculations based on the methodology described on this page. Nothing on this site constitutes financial advice. Always do your own research and consult with a financial advisor when making major financial decisions about education.