How this site produces its rankings and content. For how we handle your personal information, see our Privacy Policy.
Rankings and data displays are generated from official federal datasets by a fixed, publicly-disclosed formula (methodology). No advertiser, school, or partner can alter a ranking or a data point. If sponsored or "featured" placements ever exist, they are clearly labeled as advertising and never change the underlying data or the ranking order.
When you submit a form asking to be matched with programs or financial-aid information, we may share the information you provide with matched school and program partners so they can contact you, and we may be paid for that referral. This is disclosed on every form and detailed in our Privacy Policy. Payment never influences rankings or data.
Errors reported via the contact page are verified against the primary federal source and corrected in the next site build — typically within days.
Plain-English summaries are AI-drafted from the official figures and pass an automated fact-check that rejects any dollar amount or percentage not present in the source data. The numbers themselves are never AI-generated.