The Common Data Set

The Common Data Set (CDS) is a standard list of questions colleges answer every year about admissions, enrollment, cost and financial aid. The Common Data Set Initiative, a group of publishers (the College Board, Peterson's and U.S. News & World Report) and colleges, writes the questions, so every college answers them the same way. Guidebooks and rankings use the answers.

It is voluntary. Federal reporting (IPEDS) is required of every college that takes federal student aid; the CDS is not. Colleges that publish it usually post it on their institutional research page, in sections A through J. The 2025-26 edition describes students who entered in fall 2025.

• What the college weighs when deciding (C7). Each of 18 factors, from rigor of courses and GPA to essays, interviews, test scores and level of interest, marked very important, important, considered or not considered.
• Early decision (C21). How many applied early decision and how many were admitted, so you can compare the early decision admit rate with the overall rate.
• The waitlist (C2). How many were offered a spot, how many accepted one, and how many were admitted from it.
• High school GPA of students who enrolled (C11-C12). The share in each GPA range and the average.
• Need-based aid (H2). The average share of need the college met, and how many students had all of their need met.
• Merit aid without need (H2A). How many students with no financial need got a scholarship from the college, and the average amount.

There is no central place to get the CDS: each college posts its own, in its own format, on its own schedule. In the 215 colleges we have checked so far, 14 have no current CDS on their website: 11 post only an edition more than two years old and 3 send it only on request. For 56 more, we found none and a person is confirming it.

Among the files colleges do post, we have found (as of October 2026):

• Files shared only through Box, Google Drive, SharePoint or a page-flip viewer, or on sites that block downloads.
• Flattened PDFs and page images instead of the fillable form, so the numbers have to be read by hand.
• Percentages entered as fractions (0.65 for 65%), GPA ranges that add up to 83%, counts larger than the class they describe, and blank sections.
• Broken spreadsheet formulas, and files with no year in the name or a cover page with the wrong year.
• Numbers that are hard to believe as reported, such as almost everyone who accepted a waitlist spot being admitted.

We read each college's own file: fillable forms and the CDS Excel template directly, everything else by hand. We publish the newest edition, or one up to two years old when that is the newest posted, and label the year on every figure. Values are shown as the college reported them; when one looks wrong or we fix an obvious scale error, we say so in a note next to it with a link to the college's file. We keep a record of every file we read, with the date and a checksum. CDS figures appear on college admissions and cost pages; they do not change any score or ranking. More in How we score.

Write to the college's Office of Institutional Research (sometimes called Institutional Effectiveness, Analytics or Planning). If you can't find it, the admissions office can pass your note along. Ask for the newest edition; sections C and H are the ones that matter most for applying and paying.

Subject: Request for your Common Data Set

Hello,

I'm researching colleges and couldn't find [College]'s Common Data Set on your website.  Could you send me the most recent edition (2025-26), or a link if it is posted?  Sections C (first-year admission) and H (financial aid) are the parts I need most.

Thank you,
[Your name]

If a college sends you its CDS, or posts one we have missed, send it to rick@educationguide.com and we'll add it for everyone.

We are checking the largest colleges in each state first; last updated Oct 11, 2026. Open a state for the list of colleges. A college is listed as having no CDS only after a person has checked its website.

Data: cds-coverage.json. College research offices: if yours posts a CDS we missed, or you can send one, email rick@educationguide.com.