How to read college costs, scores and outcomes
Every profile here answers the same three questions from the same federal sources: how hard is it to get in (acceptance rate, and SAT/ACT ranges where scores are considered), what does it cost (published tuition, in- and out-of-state), and what comes out the other side (graduation rates and earnings, campus-wide and by major). Start by knowing your own numbers — the GPA calculator for your transcript, theSAT score calculator for your practice tests — then read the reported scores as data about enrolled submitters, not a cutoff. SAT endpoints are sums of section percentiles, not percentiles of total scores; ACT composite percentiles are published directly.
Score ranges describe students who submitted, not the whole entering class. Each policy badge names its historical admissions cycle; confirm current requirements with the school's admissions office. Earnings figures come in two flavors: a campus-wide median ten years after entry, and per-major medians four years after completion. Where a school's programs are too small for the federal privacy rules, the page says so instead of inventing a number. If a school you expect is missing, its federal record didn't clear our completeness bar — check the state directory and our methodology for coverage.
Know your numbers first: estimate your GPA →