Every figure on this site comes from public data published by the U.S. Department of Education or by the colleges themselves. This page shows which year each dataset describes, why that's a year or more ago, when newer data is due, and how we calculate what we show. Data last retrieved Oct 12, 2026.
Timing
Why the data is a year or more behind
Most figures come from federal surveys that every college must complete. Colleges report each year's numbers after the fact, and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) checks them before publishing, usually 9 to 12 months after reporting closes. So the newest federal data always describes a class that started a year or two ago. Here's the path the next admissions class takes:
1
Fall 2025
The class enrolls
2
Dec 2025 – Feb 2026
Colleges report it to IPEDS
3
~Dec 2026
NCES publishes it
4
Our next update
It appears here
Colleges publish some numbers sooner, in their own class profiles and . Those are newer but not standardized or checked by NCES, so we use them only where noted (see how we compare colleges).
Vintages
What's on the site now
Each federal dataset we use, the year it describes, and when a newer year is expected. Each bar runs from the start of that year to today.
Period the data describes, up to today Next expected update Today
Outcomes such as earnings and graduation rates follow students for years after they enroll, so each describes a different, earlier group of students; the College Scorecard documents the cohorts behind each measure.
Calendar
Upcoming releases
Dates are estimated from each publisher's past schedule until they're announced. Our data sync checks NCES for each release's files and marks it out as soon as they appear. Calendar last reviewed Sep 28, 2026.
Aug–Nov 2026
College class profiles, fall 2026
Estimated
Newest acceptance rates, from each college's website
Not on the site yet: arrives with college-reported figures
Colleges post them on their own websites, on a rolling basis each fall
Dec 2026
IPEDS winter release (provisional)
Estimated
Admissions, fall 2025 (ADM2025)
Student Financial Aid 2024–25 (SFA2425)
Cost 2025–26 (COST1_2025, COST2_2025)
Student-to-faculty ratio, fall 2025 (EF2025D)
8-year outcomes, students entering fall 2017 (OM2025)
Faculty salaries, fall 2025 (SAL2025_IS)
Finances, fiscal 2024–25 (DRVF2025)
Graduation rates
Graduation by Pell and loan status, entering class of fall 2019 (GR2025_PELL_SSL)
Last year's winter release was Dec 9, 2025; SAL2024_IS and DRVF2024 followed on Dec 30, 2025
Every figure is the newest a college has published
A college's admissions figures here are the newest it has published anywhere: the federal release, or a newer Common Data Set or class profile from its own site when it has one. That holds everywhere a figure appears, including Explore, Compare, rankings, and national medians. Years can differ between colleges shown side by side, since each publishes on its own schedule; every value's ⓘ shows its source and the year it describes, and a replaced federal figure stays one line down in that same ⓘ.
Where colleges' own figures come from
For 8 colleges, we've hand-imported the college's own Common Data Set for admissions counts, test scores and aid detail federal data lacks. For 1 of them it describes a newer class than the federal data. For 157 more, an automated reader found a newer Common Data Set or class profile on the college's own site; see newer figures from colleges. Either way, the ⓘ on the value itself says which document it came from and what it replaced.
For admissions, the newest figures a college has published anywhere on its own site, we read it automatically and check it before showing it. A checked value replaces the federal figure it describes everywhere on the site — the college's profile, Explore, Compare, ranks, and medians — with the replaced federal figure kept in that value's ⓘ. Because each college publishes on its own schedule, the years behind the figures shown side by side can differ; each value's ⓘ says which year it describes.
What we collect
Applicants, admitted, enrolled, and the acceptance rate for the newest entering class a college has published, whether in a class profile, admissions announcement, or Common Data Set. Only first-year, all-rounds figures count; early-decision-only numbers or transfer figures are skipped.
When a check fails
A value that fails any check below doesn't get published. It goes to a review queue for a person to look at, and the federal figure keeps showing on the profile until it's resolved.
The automated checks
Every value must pass all seven before it's shown:
1It describes first-year applicants, counting every admission round, not early decision alone.
2Every number has a verbatim quote from the document, and the number actually appears in it.
3The funnel adds up: admitted is at most applicants, and enrolled is at most admitted.
4A stated acceptance rate matches admitted ÷ applicants closely; otherwise we calculate it ourselves.
5The class is newer than the federal admissions year already on the college's profile.
6The change from the federal figures is a plausible one, not an implausible swing.
7When two documents describe the same class, they agree with each other.
Coverage so far
157 colleges currently have a newer, checked admissions figure in use across the site. From colleges' Common Data Sets, newer figures for enrollment (33 colleges), race and ethnicity (28), retention (149), graduation by Pell status (48). Coverage depends on what each college publishes: selective colleges tend to post class profiles; many others post only a Common Data Set, and some publish neither.
Schedule
Checked weekly from August through November, when colleges post their newest class profiles, and monthly the rest of the year, when Common Data Set editions come out.
Accuracy
How well Quad's estimate did
puts each college on a student's list in a group: Reach, Target, or Likely. Students who choose to share their results tell us what happened, and after each admissions season we publish how the groups held up: for each group and each band of the college's overall admit rate, how many outcomes were shared and the share admitted, with a 90% range. A group with too few outcomes says so rather than guess.
Not enough outcomes yet
The first summary comes after the season for the class entering in fall 2027, once students who applied share their results. Sharing is a choice each student makes in their plan, and it can be turned off any time.
Watching
Sources we're watching
IPEDS Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement (ACTS)
Not published
Detailed admissions data (by race, sex, family income, test scores and GPA) for 2019–20 through 2025–26, collected from colleges Dec 2025 to spring 2026. The Department of Education said it would publish in summer 2026.
Latest (as of Sep 28, 2026): No public file on NCES as of the date above. Part of the collection is blocked in court for 170+ colleges, and a new Federal Register notice (Sep 14, 2026) covers 2026–27.
Why it matters: If published college by college, it could bring fall 2025 admissions for every four-year college before the regular winter release.
Federal data on every college receiving federal student aid: size, student demographics, Pell and first-generation shares, costs, net price by family income, earnings, graduation and retention, and student debt.
Edition
Most recent release (cost data 2023–24)
Used for
Name, location & type · Enrollment · Student background · Net price & cost · Academics · Housing & campus life · Earnings, graduation & debt · Financial aid
Annual survey every college must complete: applicants, admits, and enrollees; SAT/ACT score ranges and submission rates; and how test scores are used in admission. The newest year may be a provisional release that NCES later revises.
Share of full-time first-year students receiving grants, Pell Grants, institutional aid, and loans, with average amounts, plus aid by family income for students receiving federal aid. The newest year may be a provisional release that NCES later revises.
Published prices for the year: tuition and fees for in-district, in-state, and out-of-state students, books and supplies, on-campus room and board, and other expenses. Also housing capacity and rules, meal plans, the application fee, tuition plans, and Promise programs.
Edition
2023–24 (IC2023_AY + IC2023)
Used for
Sticker prices · Admissions & test scores · Housing & campus life · Net price & cost
IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey (athletics, programs, services, religious affiliation)
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
1,893 colleges
What each college offers: its athletic association, conference, and sports; ROTC, study abroad, and undergraduate research; AP credit; student services; the academic calendar; the share of undergrads registered with disability services; and its religious affiliation, if any (labels from the file's NCES data dictionary).
Edition
2025–26 (IC2025)
Used for
Housing & campus life · Admissions & test scores · Student background
Every college's directory entry: its city, suburb, town, or rural setting, Carnegie Classification, federal designations such as HBCU and land-grant, and its location on the map. Also the links each college reports: its website, admissions and application pages, financial aid and net price calculator offices, and veterans' and disability-services offices.
Each college's student-to-faculty ratio: full-time-equivalent students per full-time-equivalent instructional faculty member, not counting faculty who teach only graduate or professional students.
IPEDS Fall Enrollment survey (part C, residence of first-time students)
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
1,810 colleges
Where each college's first-time undergraduates lived when they were admitted: each U.S. state, DC, and territory, and foreign countries. Colleges must report it in even-numbered falls; in odd years it's optional, so the site uses even years.
IPEDS Fall Enrollment survey (part A, enrollment by level)
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
1,892 colleges
Each college's fall enrollment by level of student, including new transfer-in undergraduates (full-time and part-time) and first-time degree-seeking undergraduates.
Each college's fall enrollment by level of student, split into students taking every course by distance education, some courses, and none. The site uses all undergraduates.
IPEDS Completions survey (degrees awarded by field)
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
1,877 colleges
Every degree and certificate each college awarded from July through June, by field of study (Classification of Instructional Programs, CIP 2020) and award level. The site counts bachelor's degrees, first and second majors separately.
What happened to every student who started at each college, 8 years later: earned a degree or certificate there, still enrolled, enrolled at another college, or no record. Covers first-time and transfer students, full-time and part-time, with Pell Grant recipients separately.
IPEDS Graduation Rates survey (Pell Grant and subsidized loan recipients)
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
1,767 colleges
How many first-time, full-time students finished a degree or certificate within six years (150% of normal time), for Pell Grant recipients, students with a subsidized federal loan but no Pell Grant, and students with neither.
IPEDS Salaries survey (SAL, instructional staff, all ranks)
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
1,821 colleges
Average salary of a college's full-time instructional staff (all academic ranks combined), equated to a 9-month contract so colleges with different contract lengths can be compared.
Each college's endowment and spending per full-time-equivalent student, from its own finance report: endowment assets, instruction expenses, academic support, student services, and tuition's share of core revenue. Reported on one of three accounting forms by sector (public, private nonprofit, for-profit), which aren't comparable to each other.
Earnings and federal loan debt by detailed field of study (4-digit CIP) and credential level, bachelor's programs only, among each college's federal financial aid recipients. Each column is Scorecard's latest calculation for that one metric, and different columns pool different completion cohorts a few years apart, so a program's figures aren't all one snapshot (see the Field of Study spec for the exact years).
A standardized report many colleges publish on their own sites, with more detail than federal surveys: admissions for the latest class and need-based vs. merit aid (section H).
College website (class profile or Common Data Set)
Each college
157 colleges
Figures a college posted itself, usually a year ahead of federal data: its newest class profile or Common Data Set. Read automatically from the college's site, checked against its own math and the federal baseline, and shown only on that college's profile with the exact quote and link.
Edition
Newest figures each college has published; the year is shown with each value
Used for
Name, location & type · Admissions & test scores · Net price & cost · Earnings, graduation & debt · Financial aid · Academics · Housing & campus life
State legislatures (statutes read and summarized by hand)
125 colleges
Laws that limit what public colleges in a state may offer, such as identity-based offices and programs, each with its statute, effective date, and a one-line summary checked against the statute text. Now: Alabama SB 129 (2024), Florida SB 266 (2023), Iowa SF 2435 (2024) and HF 856 (2025), Idaho SB 1198 (2025), North Carolina SB 558 (2026), Ohio SB 1 (2025), Tennessee SB 1084 (2025), Texas SB 17 (2023), Utah HB 261 (2024).
National directories of campus chapters and groups
Each organization, credited on every listing
1,206 colleges
Lists that national organizations publish of their campus chapters and groups, matched to colleges by name, city, and state. Each listing names the organization, the list, and the date we read it; a listing is the organization's claim, not confirmed by the college. Now: Alpha Delta Pi, Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, Chabad on Campus, Delta Phi Epsilon, FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students), Kappa Delta, Kappa Sigma, Lambda Chi Alpha, Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals, The Navigators, Omega Phi Beta, Phi Mu, Phi Sigma Sigma, Pi Beta Phi, Pi Kappa Phi, Reformed University Fellowship, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Sigma Delta Tau, Sigma Kappa, Sigma Nu, Secular Student Alliance, Theta Phi Alpha, Trans Policy Clearinghouse, Trans Policy Clearinghouse, Trans Policy Clearinghouse, Trans Policy Clearinghouse, Trans Policy Clearinghouse, Trans Policy Clearinghouse, Trans Policy Clearinghouse, Tri Delta.
Edition
Lists read 2026-10-04
Used for
Housing & campus life
Wikidata
Wikimedia Foundation and contributors
1,758 colleges
The free, community-edited knowledge base behind Wikipedia, joined to each college by its IPEDS unit ID: the college's social media accounts and the other names it goes by. Released under CC0. Corrections belong on Wikidata itself, which helps everyone who uses it.
English Wikipedia's table of college athletic programs' colors (Module:College color/data), each cited to the college's own brand or athletics guide, joined to a college through its Wikipedia article; for a college the table doesn't list, the hex colors in its article's infobox. Used only to give each profile the college's own colors, never as data. CC BY-SA.
When a college publishes its Common Data Set as a spreadsheet, we import it for newer admissions figures and richer aid detail (share of students with need, , ). Federal data fills in everything else.
Search understands short names and nicknames — “UGA,” “Vandy,” “Georgia Tech” — not just official names: 4,079 short names across 1,571 colleges, from the IPEDS directory, Wikidata, each college's own homepage address, and a small hand-curated list for well-known cases like “Cal” and “USC.” Spot a wrong or missing one? Wikidata corrections help everyone who uses it; the curated list is data/aliases-curated.json in the site's source.
Colors and marks
A profile's tint and crest use the college's own colors and, where it has one, its own mark. They're decoration, never data: no chart or figure uses them. Colors come from English Wikipedia's college color data (CC BY-SA), where each entry cites the college's own brand or athletics style guide; for a college it doesn't list, the hex values in the college's Wikipedia article. Color names alone are never turned into colors. A mark is the icon the college's own homepage declares for itself (its home-screen or browser icon), fetched once with the site's robots.txt honored and stored at tile size. 1,316 colleges have colors and 1,119 have a mark; the rest keep a generated monogram.
Marks and colors identify the colleges and belong to them. Showing them implies no endorsement: no college endorses this site, and this site endorses no college.
A college that wants its mark taken down can ask here . We honor a request within a day, and its monogram returns.
High schools
High school data
High school pages describe rigor, outcomes, grading, and where graduates go — never a score or rank, and compared only to a school's own state. 27,815 public and 7,575 private high schools, generated Oct 12, 2026.
AP Course Ledger, 2025–26 (the courses each school is authorized to offer as AP)
Every operating U.S. college that mainly awards bachelor's degrees, excluding online-only institutions and those reporting no undergraduates.
Missing data
If a college doesn't report something (for example, open-admission colleges have no acceptance rate), we show a dash and leave it out of rankings and medians. Missing is never treated as zero.
National ranks & medians
Each college is compared with every other college that reports the same measure. "Higher than 80%" means it's above 80% of them.
Acceptance rate
Admitted ÷ applicants from the same survey year. Not calculated for colleges with fewer than 10 applicants.
SAT totals
Colleges report Reading & Writing and Math ranges separately; we add them to estimate a total range. It's an approximation, since students aren't at the same percentile on both sections.
Average cost (all students)
Published net price figures only cover students who received aid. We estimate what the average first-year actually paid: the sticker price for each residency rate (tuition and fees plus books, on-campus room and board, and other expenses), weighted by how many students pay each rate, minus the share who got grants × their average grant. Students without grants count at full price. All inputs are from the same year (IPEDS). It assumes on-campus living, so it runs high at commuter-heavy schools.
Aid generosity
Total grant dollars ÷ number of first-years ÷ full price: the share of the full cost that grants cover for the average student, counting those who get none. Tiers: Very generous 55%+, Generous 40–55%, Moderate 25–40%, Limited under 25%.
In-state vs. out-of-state
Public universities show separate sticker prices for in-state and out-of-state students, and the share of first-years paying each rate. The all-student average weights them by that share.
Net price by family income
From the College Scorecard, for students receiving federal aid (who filed the FAFSA). Families who didn't file aren't included.
Diversity index
The chance two randomly chosen students come from different racial/ethnic groups (Simpson's index).
Payback estimate
Four years of average net price ÷ median earnings ten years after entry. A rough comparison, not a financial forecast.
How we measure the use of the site itself (never anything you enter) is described on the privacy page.
Keeping it current
We rebuild the dataset from these sources regularly and switch to each new release automatically once it's published (see upcoming releases).
For your own numbers
Averages can't tell you what your family will pay. Every college's profile links to its official for a personal estimate, alongside its own admissions, application, and financial aid pages.
Suggested citation: Quad, compiled from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard and NCES IPEDS, retrieved Oct 12, 2026.
