How we score colleges

Public and private nonprofit colleges that award bachelor's degrees to at least 100 undergraduates, about 1,900 nationwide. Online-only campuses and graduate-only schools are left out. We are publishing school pages one state at a time, starting with Florida.

School pages place each school among the colleges in its own state (“higher than 69% of Florida colleges we cover”) because that is how most families shop, and also show where it falls nationally.

The report scores every school against the same national group, so a score means the same thing whether your list mixes states or not. Each score in the report also shows the school's rank in its own state.

The two can differ. A school can be above the Florida middle on graduate earnings and below the national middle at the same time, because earnings in Florida run below the national level. Both are true; we show both.

Each factor score is the school's percentile among the national group, divided by 10. A 7.0 on graduation rate means the school's rate is higher than about 70% of colleges. For cost and debt, lower is better, so a 7.0 means cheaper or less debt than about 70% of colleges.

Cost is scored at your family's income band when you give one, against what other colleges charge families at that income.

The match score (0–100) is a weighted average of the factor scores, using the weights you set. It starts with equal weights on every factor, and you can choose a preset or adjust each weight. Admission odds count only when you enter a test score, and campus fit counts only when you set a preference.

When a school has no reported graduation rate, earnings or debt figure, that factor counts as a neutral 5 out of 10, so a gap in the federal data neither helps nor hurts the school. The report marks those schools “Limited data.”

Schools we choose for you (“Pick schools for me” and “Also consider”) must report a graduation rate, earnings, and either an acceptance rate or a net price. The same standard decides which school pages appear in search engines. Schools you add yourself are always included.

“What you'd pay” is the average net price after grants and scholarships for first-time, full-time students who receive federal aid, at your income band (College Scorecard). Public colleges report it for in-state students only, so for out-of-state students we show the sticker price with out-of-state tuition. Where grants exceed the full cost, we show $0. These are averages, not quotes; each college's net price calculator gives a personal estimate.

Graduation rate is the share of first-time, full-time students who finish within six years. Earnings are the median for former students who received federal aid, ten years after they started college. Earnings by major are for a school's graduates in that major, four years after graduating (College Scorecard field of study). Career wages are for all workers in a job, not only recent graduates (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Degree mix. We count the undergraduate awards each college gives (IPEDS completions). If at least half are bachelor's degrees, the school has no label. From 25% to 49%: “Bachelor's & associate degrees.” Under 25%: “Mostly associate degrees” or “Mostly certificates.” Many Florida state colleges fall in the last group yet offer affordable bachelor's degrees in fields like nursing and education, so the report can still suggest them and says why.

Admissions year. The newest entering class leads. Figures only available for an earlier year, such as applicant counts, are labeled with their year.

• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (institution and field-of-study files, June 2026 release)
• IPEDS: admissions (Fall 2023 counts), completions (2023-24), cost of attendance items (2023-24), enrollment and residence (Fall 2023)
• Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025); Employment Projections (2025-35)
• Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parities (2024); HUD Fair Market Rents (FY2027); Census American Community Survey 5-year (2024)
• NOAA climate normals (1991-2020); FEMA National Risk Index; Urban Institute Education Data Portal (loan default, athletics; ODC-By); Wikidata

Each figure is stored with the year it describes. When a new federal release arrives we add a year rather than replacing one, so pages can show changes over time.

State grant and scholarship amounts (such as Florida Bright Futures), college-specific merit aid, student reviews, and campus life beyond what federal data reports.