The College Scorecard was designed and developed as a multi-agency venture comprised of the Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, and the White House. Released in February 2013, this sleek and sophisticated online consumer information tool was initially introduced by the President in his 2013 State of the Union address.

The College Scorecard is designed to assist prospective students and their families with comparing and evaluating potential schools based on key measures of cost and value that are derived from data amalgamated from each of the participating agencies.

Through the application’s state-of-the-art web interface, users can search for a college by name, or by using any of nine distinctive selection factors common to the college search process; such as, programs or majors offered, undergraduate enrollment size, and campus setting. Each scorecard includes five key pieces of information not previously accessible to consumers in one place: (1) costs, (2) graduation rates, (3) loan default rates, (4) median borrowing amounts, and (5) employment.

A demo version of the College Scorecard can be accessed online at http://demos.inovas.net/scorecard/.