Letter to the Technological Community on College Scorecard Data

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Last fall, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released an Application Programming Interface (API) that makes publicly accessible all of the data used to build the College Scorecard. A variety of journalists and researchers have already started building new tools using these data. This month, the Postsecondary Data Collaborative (PostsecData) reached out to the technological community with a series of recommendations for tool development and items of interest.

Among the letter’s recommendations and points of interest, PostsecData highlights the importance of mobile devices as access points for low-income students, the need for student-friendly language and multi-lingual tools, the benefits of pairing college search with topics in financial aid and test prep, and impact of counselor/advisor components. Other highlights include building suites of linked applications/tools based on key student characteristics such as age and desired program of study.

The PostsecData letter further encourages providers to consider post-college outcomes beyond earnings, to carefully consider data definitions and restrictions, and to test any apps in development with students prior to launch.